Power Rangers: Effect vs Cause
by Captain Harris
Summary: A re-telling of the "Green with Evil" saga, the rangers find themselves dealing with the arrival of an evil green ranger... but thats the least of their problems. ((CHAPTER 17 OF 20 NOW AVAILABLE))
1. Chapter I: Zordon

**[many years ago]**

It was a curious sensation, though in hindsight he wasn't sure that sensation or curious were the right words to use in such a situation. Whatever involuntary compulsion he once did to open his eyes, he'd been trying for what seemed like hours, until finally, there was light.

It was obvious that things were trying to come into focus, but there was still a slight blur to everything. He glanced around, coming to the realization he was in a lab of some kind. _Or possibly a hospital,_ he speculated. There was a sort of glare, which it didn't take him long to determine that there was a thin sheet of glass between him and everything else.

The question was, was _he_ inside glass, or was everything else?

He reached out to put his hand on the glass. Maybe feeling his way around would give him a better indication as to what was going on, but soon realized he couldn't feel his hands.

Or his legs.

He attempted to turn his head and look around, and his immediately discovered that the feeling of his head turning from left to right and the muscles necessary to do that he had taken for granted countless times, was absent. Despite his attempts, not only did he not feel them, his perspective of the room he was in was my changing. When turning his head in any direction, things that once appeared in his peripheral vision became clearer.

But that didn't happened.

He his instinct was to panic, to lash out, to do something… _anything_ , but found he was unable to do so.

"What…"

There was something muffled, almost distorted about his voice. He almost didn't recognize it.

"Calm down, calm down. I know this must be disorienting to you," a voice said, though he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"What…"

It was his voice again, that he was sure of, though it was disturbing to him that the tone in his voice didn't indicate the level of distress or concern. There were other indistinct voices present, several of them, and a humming sound he couldn't quite place. While they were too faint for him to make out what they were saying, he was somehow left with the impression they were trying to help him.

"Please, Zordon, I know this is jarring. Please try to relax. What's the last thing you remember?" another voice asked him.

 _Zordon… I am Zordon,_ he thought to himself. He allowed his mind to wander, trying to recall the events leading up to his current situation.

"I…"

"Don't worry. There may be some unforeseen side effects to the procedure. We're confident that as time goes on, you'll remember more."

"Zordon, we're trying to help you," another voice told him. There was something familiar about the voice. It was comforting, soothing. Someone approached him, and even though he couldn't make out who it was, he saw that they placed their hand on the glass as if they were reaching out to him.

Suddenly, things began to clear up for his. His vision and hearing were starting to improve, but it was still far from perfect.

"Its working, the levels are stabilizing. If we can get to them drop to under 20% we'll be in the clear."

Zordon still had no idea who this person was, or even where he was, but there was something about her. He could feel himself calming, or at least whatever the sensation was that he associated with calming down. It was… a woman. _His_ woman.

"Dimitria," he sighed.

"Yes, yes it's me, Zordon. There was an accident," she informed him.

"Accident?"

"The Alliance of Evil was trying to open a dimensional rift, the rift would have spanned across all of time and space. It would have destroyed most of the galaxy, but you sealed it. You saved us all," she explained.

"You… are safe?"

"Yes, my love. I am. Thanks to you, but there was an accident."

"What happened?"

"You sacrificed yourself to seal the rift, but you were… you were killed. We don't know a lot about what happened, but we suspect the residual energy from the rift trapped you in a time warp. As far as he can tell, your consciousness from one nano second before you died is being contained within this… this tube," Dimitra explained.

No matter how much he tried, he simply couldn't bring himself to recall what happened to him prior to waking up inside a glass tube. He _did_ recognize Dimitra, and that was enough to give him hope that he would eventually remember more.

"How long will I…"

Dimitra glanced over at one of the men who were helping, but he disappointedly shook his head.

"We've got our best people working on it, but there is just so much we don't know about it. Your cell structure, your neural pathways, your DNA, all of it is... different," she said.

"What am I?"

"I hesitate to put a label on it until we do more testing, but in layman's terms, you're now an inter-dimensional being trapped in a time warp. Outside of this tube, not only would you not survive, we speculate your consciousness would dissipate. You would just be gone," the scientist explained.

"Then do it," Zordon said.

"Do what?"

"Open the tube. Let me out. Let me die."

"Zordon, I…"

"I am of no use to you or anyone in this _state_. If my sacrifice saved the galaxy, allow me to pass on in peace. I will be one with the Celestials," he said.

Though his voice was devoid of any emotion, Dimitra could tell he meant it. Zordon had always been a very spiritual being, and now was his chance to move on from his life.

"That's a negative," a voice said. This voice was different from the others Zordon heard previously, there was a confidence to it, an authority. "This is a terrible tragedy, and your service to the citizens of Eltar and the entire galaxy can never be repaid, but the galaxy needs you again."

Dimitra turned to the stranger. "He has done enough. His time has passed. Let him move on in peace."

"Our latest intel suggests that the multi phasic technology we acquired from Gallifrey was successful. One of the AOE's generals and her team have been contained, but the technology to duplicate it was destroyed in the explosion. The blast was enough to push the chamber away, and we determine it has or it will land in sector 001."

"Sector 001 is over ten thousand light years away. Even at max velocity in our fasted ship it would take us centuries to reach it. It's over. Rita and her goons are gone," Dimitra mentioned.

"The same alloy the chamber is made of is the same thing that will allow us to send Zordon to sector 001. We are still several generations from perfecting the technology that will let organic matter to travel inter dimensionally, but Zordon…"

"Zordon could survive the trip and get there is a fraction of the time," she sighed.

"If I can be of service, I will, but what can I do in this state? I cannot leave this tube," Zordon mentioned.

"We can send you with one of the _A.L.P.H.A._ units. Its A.I. matrix will be repurposed to serve you well."

"What in the name of the Celestials do you think Zordon can do on the other side of the universe with an A.L.P.H.A. unit? Even if Rita did manage to escape, which she won't, they would be no match for her and her team," she said.

"Give us the room," the man said.

One by one, the scientists exited the room, closing the door on their way out.

"What's this about general?" Dimitra asked.

"A century ago, our government had amassed a legion of zords, weapons and power sources, all of them connected to the Universal Morphin Grid. They believed that if left unchecked, such an array of weapons would lead to civil war. The Quasar Sabers, the Zeo Crystal, the Energems and many others were sent to sector 001 and scattered throughout all of time and space. It was the only way to be sure none of them would fall into the wrong hands, even if those hands were our own," the general explained to him.

"You're worried that Rita will break free, find of this sources of power and launch an assault on Eltar," she added.

"We have dispatched volunteers to safeguard the power. Ninjor has already departed. Because he isn't an organic being, he will be protected. Keeper is a mystic and will be safe to travel, and will keep an eye on the energems. Dulcea is immortal, and even though traveling through the rift will leave her in immense pain, she will heal. Our plan is to send Zordon through the rift to safeguard the Zeo Crystal, which, according to our long range probes, is on one of the moons in that sector."

"How?"

"We are in possession of five of the six power coins. Zordon and A.L.P.H.A. will have to recruit indigenous lifeforms from that sector to ensure the crystal never falls into Rita's hands."

"Has the AOE sent anyone through the rift to secure Rita and the crystal?" Zordon asked.

"Yes. Serpentera the War Zord has been dispatched, but it will still take them get there without the rift. We have no intel on who is on board, but we suspect Dark Spector will send one of his best soldiers."

"So you want to send Zordon and a tin can across the galaxy equipped only with power coins? And not even an entire set. Then recruit warriors and stop Rita, who can't escape her prison, from getting the crystal? That's insane," Dimitra protested.

"If Rita or anyone else gets their hands on the crystal, the entire galaxy will be in danger," the general told her.

"And just now is he…" she was interrupted.

"I'll do it," Zordon said.

"You what?" she snarled.

"I'll do it. I will protect the crystal, no matter the cost."

"But Zordon, you've done enough. You saved the entire planet, the whole damn _galaxy_ , I'd say the galaxy owes you this one. Stay here and let us figure out how to get you out of this damn tube," she urged him.

"We are Sages, Dimitra. We have a Celestial duty to protect. I will go where I must to protect the galaxy," he paused. "To protect you."

"You will not be alone, Zordon. There are people from other planets in our system that realize how important this is. As we speak at the shipyards of K.O.-35 they are working on a new hyperdrive technology that will allow us to travel faster than ever before. Sooner or later we will get to you, and when this is over we will bring you home. You have my word," the general assured him.

"When do we leave?"

"As soon as your ship is ready and your A.L.P.H.A. unit is fully charged. I'm told that the fifth unit in the series is the most advanced A.I. we have ever created." he turned to Dimitra. "I'll give you two a moment alone," he said, then walked out the lab.

"You're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?" she asked.

"I have to go. I have a duty."

"What about your duty to _me_? To our friends? To our family?"

"We took an oath to protect anyone who may be in danger and to stop the AOE at all costs. I have to do this."

"We've spent our entire lives trying to protect the power from falling into the wrong hands and keep the galaxy safe, but this time…" she walked back over to the tube, placing her hand on it gently. " _This_ time, I hope the power can protect _you._ " Dimitra sighed.


	2. Chapter II: Goldar pt I

[Sunday, October 3rd, 1993 3:36am]

It was that time of night where the Moon Palace was completely silent. During the day, or, what was perceived as day, Rita's overbearing screeching could be heard echoing through the entire palace, or the occasional ramblings of Squatt and Baboo and they scurried back and forth. At certain points of the day, Finster's Monstermatic could be heard whirring into operation as he carefully crafted warriors for Rita. But, after a long battle, there was nothing but calmness, stillness.

The sound of Goldar's golden armor could be heard clanking across the floor as he walked over to a window, staring out. From a distance, the Earth seemed so small, so insignificant. It was hard to believe that this one miniscule speck in the universe had been such a problem for a warrior of his caliber. For over 10,000 years, alongside Empress Rita, they conquered countless galaxies, enslaved populations and brought anyone who opposed them to their knees. Goldar's name was known and feared throughout the universe. Where he went, destruction followed, and any living thing that dared challenge him was eliminated without haste, without mercy.

During their invasion of Tarmac Three, along with a few select warriors, they were able to quite effortlessly take over the planet, then enslaved the population to mine and eventually create his golden armor. Zordon, the Sage of Eltar, sent four of his finest warriors to combat Rita's forces.

"Power Rangers," he snarled in his low, gravelly voice.

Zordon was known throughout the universe as a force for goodness, for peace, but often found himself no match for Rita's forces. On the same day Goldar's new armor was completed, his long time ally, Knasty Knight, also claimed a significant victory by defeating the finest warrior in Zordon's army; the Green Ranger. As spoils of that victory, Knasty Knight claimed the sword used by his opponent, The Sword of Light, as his own. He dubbed it the Sword of Darkness, trapping the essence of his enemies within it. Battle after battle, with the very being of his enemies trapped inside, Knasty Knight made quick work of anyone who opposed them. Their victories would continue over the years, until finally, Rita launched an all out assault on the last planet in the Oharian galaxy, Hexagon. Goldar warned Rita that her string of victories had left her vulnerable, that her overconfidence would be her downfall. A few other warriors shared that sentiment, but none would dare question the Empress.

Warriors were sent to secure the planet, but with most of her forces on the planet locked in battle over the fate of the world, Zordon and a group of warriors launched their last ditch efforts to stop Rita forever. Zordon realized that the only way to truly stop Rita would be to imprison her, so multi-phasic chamber was constructed. Though small on the outside, _inside_ the chamber time was suspended and was much bigger, leaving more than enough room to trap Rita.

Goldar, sensing something was wrong, returned to Rita's side, and in doing so, was trapped inside the chamber along with Rita, Squatt, Baboo and Finster. While time and space moved differently inside the chamber, which Squatt affectionately referred to as "the dumpster", Rita and her comrades were well aware of the passage of time. Goldar suddenly found himself a warrior without a battle to fight, without a foe to vanquish. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years… and after a while, they gave up on keeping up with the time in the outside world. His only comfort was that one day, they would be freed from their eternal prison, and once they did, any warrior who dared opposed them in the past would be long since gone. It would be a chore, but they would one by one conquer the galaxy again.

After what seemed like a lifetime of aimless drifting through space in a dumpster, they crashed on a planet, where they were accidently released by a team of astronauts. Ready to pick up exactly where they left off, Rita occupied the Moon Palace and prepared for the conquest of Earth, but there was a catch. Their archenemy, Zordon, was still around, and had recruited a new group of warriors to stop Rita.

 _No matter,_ Goldar thought to himself. He had overseen the occupation of entire galaxies, slain warriors who claimed to be unstoppable; surely these new warriors would pose no threat to their plans. Yet, battle after battle, warrior after warrior, fell to this new team assembled by the Sage. In most cases, it was simply a matter of poor planning. These new warriors were nothing but teenagers, infants compared to Goldar, yet unsound tactical decisions by Rita led them to defeat after defeat.

Finster often referred to the _In Libro De Reprobi,_ to create new bodies for fallen warriors for their armies. Rita ordered Finster to bring forth these creatures, and one by one, they were not only defeated, but defeated seemingly almost effortlessly by Zordon's new team. What was it about these warriors, he wondered. Granted, they had the power of the Morphin Grid powering their armor, vehicles and weapons, but that shouldn't have been a problem. They had dispatched rangers in the past, rangers with far more experience, so why were these teenagers a problem?

They shouldn't have been. It didn't make any sense to him. While he pledged his undying loyalty to Rita and her cause, he couldn't help but question their recent string of defeats at the hands of these… children.

Sword in hand, Goldar turned and walked away, making his way into the main throne room, were Rita sat on her throne fast asleep. He couldn't help but be a bit disappointed that she wasn't awakened by the sound of his approach. She had, in his opinion, gotten spoiled, even a bit lazy. If they were going to stop these rangers and finally rid the galaxy of Zordon, she would have to be much more alert.

He dropped to his knee loudly _on purpose._ The sound of his knee and the tip of his sword hitting the floor was enough to startle her, waking her.

"My Empress," he announced, bowing slightly.

"What do you want, you big gold witnit?" she snarled at him, wiping her eyes as she sat straight up, enraged that he had woken her. "You're giving me a headache."

"My Empress, what is your next plan of attack against the rangers? Our past battles have been…" he stopped himself, making sure he found the right words. She may have gotten a little laxed, but she was still his Empress, and still one of the most powerful sorceress he had ever encountered. "... less than successful. Send me and I will return with…" he was interrupted.

"No. You will do nothing. My plan is nearly complete," she told him.

"Plan?"

She stood to her feet. "Am I supposed to check it with you, Goldar? Are you to know every move I make?"

"No, my Empress, I merely…"

"You merely nothing, you buffoon. My plan has been in the works for a while now, and now, it may finally be time to unleash my most fearsome creation," Rita exclaimed.

Goldar never rose to his feet, but instead looked up. The sound of a plan was exciting to him, but in keeping with her most recent plans, it was more than likely a giant hedgehog monster, or a creature made out of old tires. These were the very essences of some of the greatest warriors he had ever served with, and they were reduced to almost comic relief. Still, she was his Empress, and if she had a plan, he would do his part to help carry it out. "What can I do to assist, my Empress?"

"Bones, Mighty Minotaur, Chunky Chicken, Eye Guy, Gnarly Gnome… all of them have served a purpose. All of them have been in preparation for this," she said, holding her hand out.

There was a quick surge of green energy, and in the palm of her hand appeared a coin. Even from the angle Goldar was kneeling in, he knew exactly what it was.

"A power coin?"

"Not just any power coin, the green power ranger that Knasty Knight secured in his battle on Karmac Three. With this coin, I will recruit my own evil green ranger, and use him to destroy Zordon and the rangers once and for all," she told him.

"That is brilliant, my Empress. Destroy the rangers with one of their own. But why allow our allies to fall? Why sacrifice them when they could have…"

"Because, you fool, each time one of them is defeated, their essence is trapped inside the Sword of Darkness, making it the most powerful sword in the universe. Their essence powers the sword, and the rangers constant expenditure of energy powers the coin. I will give the sword to my evil green ranger, and he will use it to finally end Zordon's pathetic crusade to defeat me," Rita explained.

The idea of being given the green ranger powers intrigued him. The power of the coin, along with the Sword of Darkness, would make anyone a formidable force, but he had grown accustom to his armor. It was crafted for him, and he wasn't ready to give it up. But, he did know someone who would be the ideal candidate to receive the powers.

"My Empress, I think that Scorpina would make an excellent green ranger," he informed her.

He had served alongside Scorpina for centuries, and once he and Rita settled into the Moon Palace, Scorpina had reunited with them. She was almost unstoppable with a blade, and with the Sword of Darkness in her hands the rangers would be easily defeated. And, on a personal note, it would be a good excuse to have Scorpina around more often .

"Scorpina? That witnit wouldn't know real power if it scurried up to her and stung her on the…" Goldar did not allow her to finish her sentence.

"Scorpina's expertise with a blade would surely be…"

Rita walked over to him with her staff in hand, standing directly in front of him. "Don't you ever interrupt me again, tin head. The green ranger powers will be the deciding factor in this war with Zordon. Do you think I would give such power to a hired mercenary? No no no, my green ranger will be a human. Those brats will never see one of their own coming, and my green ranger will be the final nail in the coffin for those power twerps," Rita hissed.

"As you wish, my Empress. Would you like to secure the candidate? I will go to Earth and retrieve him at once," he offered.

"No, not yet. The sword is nearly at full power. When it reaches its apex, I will use that power to put a spell on my ranger, making him loyal to only me."

"Who have you selected?"

Rita let out a devious laugh. "I have someone in mind," she said, cracking a half smile.


	3. Chapter III: Tommy pt I

**[Monday, October 4th, 1993 6:35pm]**

The sun had set in the quiet little town of Angel Grove, and there was a cool, crisp chill in the air. With his hands in the front pockets of his sweater, Tommy Oliver walked down the street on his way to the construction district. There was a lot of heavy machinery and equipment scattered everywhere. Tommy, simply lifted up the yellow caution tape warning people to stay out, then continued. Year after year, the Angel Grove carnival was usually held here over the summer, but this summer would be the last time. Some rich, overzealous business man had purchased the land and was planning to build some sort of soulless company in it's place. But that wasn't Tommy's concern. In the distance, he could hear what sounded like electrical equipment overloading. A quick glance upward and there were some flashing lights, but it quickly passed, and Tommy dismissed it.

As he walked through the mud, which had dried to the point that it felt as though he was walking in paste, he could hear noise coming from one of the tents at the far end of the site. He continued on, and the voices got louder. After a few moments, he arrived at the source of the disturbance, where there was a rather large man guarding the entrance.

"Get outta here, kid," the man groaned, never unfolding his arms.

Tommy didn't even bother to take his hood off. In what seemed like one, effortless motion, he caught the man off guard with a leg sweep. As he fell back, Tommy grabbed hold of his wrist, and by the time the man hit the ground, Tommy already had his arm securely behind his back.

"You want me to break this? Or do you wanna move aside?" Tommy asked calmly, never once expressing any sort of emotion.

"Go ahead," the man grumbled. It could have been the fact that he was face down in the mud that made it difficult to talk, but it wasn't as though Tommy was listening away. For good measure, Tommy twisted the man's arm, and there was a heart wrenching cracking sound just as Tommy let him go, walking inside.

Inside the tent itself was a large cage, or at least what was constructed to resemble a cage. It was simply chain linked fence being held together by chains and padlocks. It wasn't very sturdy, but it was secure enough to serve its purpose. Inside the cage were two men who were pounding away on one another, each of them drenched in blood and extremely fatigued. Outside the cage were men in business suits, no doubt some corporate wall street, silver spooned suits who were paying the construction workers after hours to beat the hell out of one another for their amusement. Scattered through the crowd appeared to be simply bystanders who were interested in seeing the fights. There was the faint smell of gasoline and burned rubber, more than likely from the construction.

Just then, directly in front of Tommy, one of the opponents slammed up against the inside of the cage. His face was pressed against the cage until finally, his opponent kicked him in the back of the head, and the man fell to the ground.

"Winner!" a man announced into an old style microphone that seemed to lower from the ceiling, entering the cage and raising the fighter's arm in victory. "Is there anyone man enough to step inside the cage with the undefeated Buzzsaw? Last 5 minutes and win $500. Win and earn $5000. Any takers?"

Still refusing to remove his hood, Tommy stepped inside the cage with his hands still in his pocket. As onlookers pulled the unconscious fighter out of the cage, the announcer walked over to Tommy.

"You're in the wrong place, kid. This isn't the Angel Grove karate tournament. These guys are killers and will rip you half. Go on, get out of here," he told him.

Tommy remained still and silent, never moving a muscle.

"Alright kid, it's your funeral. You know the rules, five minutes gets you five hundred. A win gets you five thousand. The only rule is survive. What should I call you?" he asked him.

"My name is Tommy," he said softly.

"That name isn't going to strike fear into the heart of your opponents kid, but I admire your moxie!" the man stood in the middle of the cage. "Our next… victim hails from… oh what do you care? We all know Buzzsaw is going to mop the floor with this guy. Lock the door, ring the bell, let's do this," he said, exiting the cage.

As the door closed, someone wrapped a chain through the fence and locked it, trapping Tommy inside. The bell rang, and his opponent simply stared at him with amazement.

"Is this the best you could do? This pipsqueak? Are there no _real_ challengers for Buzzsaw?" he snarled.

Buzzsaw himself was no slouch. He was easily a few inches shy of seven feet tall, extremely muscular and covered in tattoos. He wore a pair of white shorts, which had been stained by dirt and the blood of his opponents. Still, Tommy didn't seem very impressed with his opponent's size.

Buzzsaw swung a quick right hand at Tommy, but he avoided it. Buzzsaw swung again, but Tommy ducked, this time swinging around behind him and kicking Buzzsaw in the back of the knee. He fell to one knee, and did a spin kick, kicking Buzzsaw in the back of the head. Buzzsaw hit the ground hard, but quickly got back up, wiping the dirt away from his eyes.

"Your ass is mine, kid," he groaned, rushing at Tommy.

Tommy, even before Buzzsaw knew what happened, pulled the drawstring out of his hooded sweater, and as Buzzsaw swung at him, Tommy used the rope and wrapped it around Buzzsaw's wrist. Buzzsaw grabbed Tommy, lifting him up and ramming him into the side of the cage. The entire structure shook, but Tommy raised his arms, sliding out of his sweater. As Buzzsaw tried to turn around, he realized Tommy had tied his wrist to the side of the cage. With him momentarily distracted, Tommy began to unload with kicks and punches. Buzzsaw fell to one knee and continued to attack, and the crowd howled with vicious approval.

Finally, Buzzsaw snatched his wrist free of its restraints, stood back up and charged at Tommy. He connected with one good punch to the face, busting the area over Tommy's right eye wide open. Blood began to pour from the open wound, and sensing a victory, Buzzsaw rushed in to finish Tommy off.

Tommy taunted him, motioning for him come after him. Buzzsaw obliged and charged in after Tommy, but Tommy hit a crescent kick to the side of the head, dropping Buzzsaw to both his knees. Tommy moved in, but Buzzsaw grabbed Tommy, wrapping his arms around him and began to squeeze.

"Go to sleep, little boy," Buzzsaw groaned.

Tommy grabbed Buzzsaw by the head, and with one quick twist, Buzzsaw released his hold and fell to the ground and the crowd roared with approval.

The cage door opened as the announcer and paramedics on hand rushed into the cage, checking on Buzzsaw. Another paramedic hurried over to Tommy to tend to his eye, but he swatted them away, refusing help.

"Here is your winner… Tommy!" the announcer said, raising Tommy's arm in victory as the crowd began to chant Tommy's name. "I don't know how you did that kid, but you're a natural. I've got a couple of guys who would love a piece of you. You in? There's some big bucks involved."

Through the blood, Tommy glanced over at the cage door, where three more fighters stepped in, each of them with a look of determination on their faces.

"It isn't fair," Tommy said softly. "They should have brought more guys," he proclaimed as he picked up his sweater, putting it back on as he got into his fighting stance.


	4. Chapter IV: Tommy pt II

**[Tuesday October 5th, 1993 6:52am]**

The sun hadn't fully risen yet, but the daily life of the citizens of Angel Grove were already beginning. Garbage-men on their daily patrols were picking up trash, the newspaper delivery boy was on his bike, tossing rolled newspapers in front of houses. Even for a moment, Tommy had to admire the simplistic beauty of it all, but that moment quickly passed as Tommy put the hood back over his head and continued to talk.

The proof of a major battle were evident on Tommy; there were cuts and bruises, his right eye was almost completely swollen closed, and dried blood stained his dirty green sweater, but that didn't bother him at all. He walked away from the construction site as if he had no place in particular to be, no sense of urgency in his step. He was more focused on counting the rolls of money he'd won in last night's competition. A lot of it was crumpled up, torn and bloody, but for the bills that were stained badly, he simply wiped off whatever it was on his sweater, added that bill back to the rest and continued to walk.

There were a few stares as he walked; a few of the Angel Grove citizens unsure of what to think of him. It occurred to him that walking around town covered in the blood and counting money could draw some unwanted attention, so he stuffed his winnings into his pocket, then took a turn down an alley to stay out of sight. The alleyway itself was long, at least two blocks long, but at least there weren't people pointing and whispering as he walked.

It was odd to Tommy that, as he walked down the alley, rats were rushing away in the other direction. They seemed to be in a hurry, which led Tommy to believe they were either running _towards_ something or running _away_ from something. As the sun continued to rise, Tommy, feeling a bit warm, pulled his sweater up over his head, then tied it around his waist as he continued. Next he noticed that there was no sound… _none_ at all. No traffic, no conversations, the garbage truck, the wind, even the sound of his own footsteps… all of it was gone. It was enough to make him stop dead in his tracks, glancing around trying to make sense of the situation.

"Tommy!" a voice heckled.

Tommy spun around, trying to find the source of the voice. Finally, he glanced upwards where he was a figure standing on top of a building. It was at least two stories up, and because the sun was shining down directly in his eyes, he wasn't able to get a good look at who it was.

"I have chosen you," the figure announced to him.

Tommy stood ready, still exhausted from his earlier fights, but ready to do what he had to do defend himself. While there was no other sound, he did hear a slight gurgling sound. There was something unusual about it, something inhuman. He looked around as four creatures appeared in front of it, swaying back and forth in an awkward, menacing motion. At first glance, each of them looked misshapen in some way; their faces were contorted, out of order. It was as if, whatever these creatures were made of, was melting. There was no discernible eyes, nose or mouth, but each of them hummed with a sort of gurgle that was enough to make the hairs on the back of Tommy's neck stand at attention.

One of them lunged at him, getting a good shot in on his already injured right eye. Tommy spun around, clutching his eye, but then wiped the blood away and continued into his spin, hitting a back heel kick that knocked the creature a few feet off the ground and up against the wall. Another one charged at him, but he caught their arm, twisted it and flipped him over his shoulder. The creature fell to the ground, turning into what looked like a pile of gray goo, but it quickly reshaped itself into humanoid form. Realizing what he was up against, Tommy glanced around, trying to find something in his environment that would aid him in this fight. He picked up a broom handle, breaking it in half over his knee, then stood ready.

"Come and get me, clay brains," he taunted.

Two of them came after him, but he hit them both over the side of the head, spun around, hitting them a second time, then a well placed kick knocked them over. A third one grabbed him from behind, but Tommy dropped to one knee, flipping over the creature over his shoulder and right into the first two. The monsters regrouped as two of them each grabbed Tommy by the arms, restraining him. As the third one came close to him with some sort of device, Tommy kicked it out of his hand, did a backflip, freeing himself from the grip of the first two. A chop block knocked both of them down, and Tommy picked up his makeshift weapon, stabbing both of them in the chest. This time, they seemed to dissolve away, eventually drying into a small clump of what looked like putty.

The final two made their move, but Tommy pulled the shards from his broomstick out of what was left of the first two assailants, charging in towards them. He lunged the shards into their chests, then pulled upwards, snatching the shards up through the heads, splitting them in half. They both collapsed to the ground, and like the others, dissolved away, leaving almost no trace of them.

"Aw man, why me?" he mumbled to himself, doing one more quick glance around to ensure there were no more potential threats.

That's when he remembered; the figure on top of the he could make a move, the figure on the building pointed a staff at him. An energy beam came from the staff, connecting with Tommy's chest. His fight instinct was to howl out in pain, to scream, but before sound could even leave his lips, it was all over.

Tommy found himself in a stone room of some kind. It was cold, real cold, prompting him to grab his sweater, putting it back on. He walked over to what looked like a window, getting a good look outside.

"WHAT?" he gasped, realizing that not only was he in space, but the Earth was a great distance away from him. His first instinct was to put his index finger on the side of his throat to check for a pulse, then clutch his heart to make sure it was still beating. He took a deep breath in, and it hit him that wherever he was, there seemed to be a breathable atmosphere.

"Hello Tommy," a voice said from behind.

He spun around quickly, coming face to face with _her._ While he wasn't able to get a good look at her in the alley, he was certain that she was the same person he'd seen on the rooftop earlier. She wore a long, dark brown robe that seemed to have unfamiliar writing on it. There was a sort of armor, a chest piece connected to the robe that presumably served no other function but to be a decoration of some kind. She also had on a helmet of some kind that had two horns sticking out of it. Tommy wasn't sure if the horns were part of her head, and holes were cut into the head piece to accommodate them, or if the horns were part of the head piece itself. And the staff is easily recognized as the object she pointed at him before he appeared… wherever they were.

"Who are you and what the hell is going on?" Tommy snapped, standing ready to fight, despite the fact that he knew he was much too injured to continue without patching himself up a bit.

"You have nothing to fear from me, Tommy. Let me prove it to you," she offered. She took her staff, waving it slightly in front of him. His first instinct was to back up, but as the staff passed over him, he could feel his wounds healing. The swelling in his eye went down, the blood dissipated, and within seconds, Tommy was as good as new. "There. Feeling better?"

He glanced down at his hands, clenching and unclenching his fists. Next, he touched his face where he wounds were, but they were gone.

"I… I'm fine," he admitted.

"You see, Tommy. You and I are alike a lot of ways. We…" he immediately interrupted her.

"You don't know the first thing about me," he snapped. Despite her generosity, Tommy still knew nothing about this woman.

"Oh but I do, dear boy. I know all about your past… about your father. I know about what he did, and I _especially_ know what _you_ did. I know that it haunts you, keeps you awake at night. I know the pain you're in, Tommy. I can help you. I can take that pain from you," she told him.

"Who are you?"

"I am the Queen of Darkness, I am destruction. I am despair. I am anguish, I am suffering. I am your Empress, Rita Repulsa," she introduced in a dark, ominous tone.

"Fancy resume, but why should I trust you?" he asked, visibly shaken by her statements, but doing his best not to let it show.

"Because I can give you the one thing you've always wanted, the one thing that, if you'd had it back then, you could have saved her. I can give you what you need to make people cower at your feet and fear your name. I can give you power," she told him, opening her hand slightly. There were a quick surge of energy, followed by a momentary flash of green light, and when it faded, there was a coin in her hand.

At first glance, the coin looked old… ancient. Without a word Tommy took it from her, examining it closely. There appeared to be a foot print etched into it. _No, more like a paw print,_ he thought to himself. Whatever it was, it was exactly what she said it was, powerful. He wouldn't openly admit it to her, but he could feel the energy of it surging through his body as he held it.

"What is it?" he asked, admiring it.

"It is the legendary sixth power coin of Eltar. Over 10,000 years ago, a Sage named Zordon entrusted six coins to six warriors. Their goal was to rid the universe of evil, but they failed. The first five coins are in the hands of the ones you have come to know as the Power Rangers," Rita told him.

"Power Ranger," he mumbled under his breath, unable to take his eyes off the coin as he seemed to glow slightly in his hand.

"With this power coin, you will be become the green ranger. _My_ green ranger. Imagine it Tommy, power. More power than you could have ever dreamed of right at your fingertips. You will be the right hand of the Empress of the Universe, second only to me. We'll have those power twerps heads stuffed and mounted in our throne room, and the aches of that old wind bag Zordon will be sprinkled at our feet."

"What do you want me to do?" Tommy asked, still unsure what to think of all this.

"I will give you the power and tools you need to defeat the Power Rangers and destroy Zordon. Then, we will raise an empire that Dark Spector himself will come to fear," she said, clenching her fist and snarling at the mere concept of universal domination.

Tommy had only been in Angel Grove a few months. He'd started a new school and was just trying to get by. He wasn't interested in making friends or community activities. He just wanted to be left alone, but even he had knowledge of the power rangers. Five multi colored warriors fighting the forces of evil, dispatching giant monsters with their own battle vehicles, then disappearing into the shadows. No one knew who the rangers were, but if there was some sort of attack, the rangers were there to save the city. It was all so… so noble.

"You want _me_ to be a power ranger?"

"The sixth power coin once belonged to Zordon's most trusted ally, and is the most powerful of the six. I don't want you to be _a_ power ranger, I want you to be _the_ power ranger. Defeat them, and you will be the only of your kind. The universe will be ours for the taking," she moved in closer to him. "All you have to do is swear your loyalty to me. Bow to your Empress, and we will rule this galaxy," she assured him.

The longer they talked, the more he could feel the energy from the coin surging through him. He felt powerful, alive. He didn't know much about the rangers, but he knew enough to know there were no match for him. He was faster, stronger, smarter. They may have outnumbered him five to one, but he'd faced much biggest obstacles in life and come out on top. This would be no different for him. There was something about it, something he couldn't explain; there was a part of him that wanted to refuse her offer, but the energy from the coin continued to boil inside him, almost demanding that he agree to her request.

While Tommy will never be sure if he simply grew tired of resisting, or if the power itself overwhelmed him, compelling him to comply, but Tommy dropped down to one knee in front of her, bowing.

"To the fall of Zordon, and to the destruction of the power rangers," he proclaimed, accepting her proposal.

Rita let out a sickening laugh, a laugh that seemed to fill the entire chamber. "Tommy Oliver, you are now _my_ evil green ranger," she proclaimed.

Almost all at once, the energy pulsating through him doubled in intensity, then tripled, then… it was more than he could even put into words. When it subsided, he found himself wearing the green ranger uniform. It looked very similar to the rangers he'd seen on the news fighting monsters, but he was certain the feeling was different. He felt strong, powerful. He rose to his feet, placing the power coin into the buckle on his belt almost instinctively.

"What is our first move, my Empress?" he asked, surprising even himself with how his voice sounded through the green ranger helmet. It was more the slight muffle of behind in a helmet. There was a sort of dark, demented distortion to it.

"Patience, my loyal warrior. This is only the first step in your journey. Besides, you have a class to get to," Rita told him in a sinister tone.


	5. Chapter V: Trini pt I

**[Tuesday, October 5th, 1993 7:54am]**

Trini sat in complete silence, allowing herself to take in the ambient sounds of her surroundings. Her legs were comfortably folded Indian style, leaving the soles of her feet facing outwards and upwards. On each hand, her index finger and thumb were pressed together gently, forming a small circle as she left the palms of her hands facing upwards as well.

With her eyes closed, she inhaled and exhaled slowly, developing a calm, soothing rhythm. She was aware of her thoughts, but not engaged in them as she straightened back, allowing herself to become one with her environment.

The last year has been an emotional rollercoaster for Trini; struggling with living in another country, trying to find ways to fit in without losing her sense of self, and as soon as she felt she'd been able to achieve the balance she was hoping for, it all changed again when she became a power ranger.

She had her concerns, her doubts, but as she exhaled, she allowed those negative thoughts to leave her body. With every breath, she found herself closer and closer to her emotional center. The sound of wind blowing through the leaves and grass was all she heard, it was soothing.

Each of her friends had come to terms with their new responsibilities in their own ways. While she'd never spoken to any of the others directly about their thought process, they each seemed to have found resolution.

But not Trini.

She had a laundry list of doubts and insecurities that continued to plague her, which is why her uncle suggested she try meditation as a way to center herself and cope with the problems of life. In the beginning, the only thing she managed to do was fall asleep during meditation, but over time she discovered that she depended on meditation to clear her mind, to focus on a goal, to manage her emotions.

Soon, the rhythm of her own heartbeat was the only sound she could hear. _Positive mental attitude, mind over matter,_ she told herself. And it was working. The repetition of her heartbeat allowed her to pace herself. She was at peace, she was _in_ peace.

Her index finger and thumbs separated themselves, laying her the palms of her hands flat on the ground. She opened her legs, out stretching them on either side of her until she had completed a split position.

Without thinking about it, not concerning herself with the physics of how or the amount of strength or effort it would take to complete the task, Trini simply _allowed_ her legs to lift up in the air and over her head. Soon, she was in a complete hand stand, not that she'd noticed. The sound of her heart beating surrounded her, engulfed her. It was all she could hear, it was the only thing _to_ hear.

Finding a balance between her personal life and her duties as a ranger, at one point, overwhelmed her, but now there was a stillness within her, a serenity. Yes, on almost a weekly basis the city of Angel Grove was being threatened, but Trini was filled a certainty that Rita and her monsters would be defeated. Even certainty wasn't a strong enough conviction; it was a foregone conclusion to her. It was only a matter of time before Rita was defeated and the Earth was saved.

Trini's legs began to separate again into the split position, this time in mid air. There was no sign of strain of exertion on her part at all. _Thinking_ about how to do anything only clouded the issue. _Thoughts prevent action,_ her uncle explained to her. She'd learned that anything was possible if she stopping concerning herself with the steps on how to achieve a goal and simply operated under the assumption that goal had been completed.

With precision balance, Trini raised her left arm lifted off the ground and at her side, leaving her completely still and balanced on one arm. Again, there were no signs of struggle or effort being expended. She simply did it.

Soon, even the sound of her heart beating washed away, leaving her in a void of _everything._ There was nothing, the absence of everything. _Why worry about how to manage things?_ she thought to herself. _Worry only adds an extra step and opposes results._

As Trini found herself surrounded in darkness, engulfed in the vast nothingness, there was only clarity of thought. Peace of mind. But… there _was_ something else. It was only for a moment, but it seemed as though… off in the distance there was a light of some kind. It seemed to be swirling with electrical energy. It was unlike anything Trini had seen before. But before she could investigate further...

"Whoa! That is slammin'!" a voice said.

In an instant, Trini's eyes blinked open, and she collapsed under her own weight, falling to the ground. As she turned over, regaining her composure and standing to her feet, she saw Zack standing under a tree across from her. He was leaning up against a tree with his arms folded.

"How did you do that?" he asked her.

There was no reason to be angry with him. The truth was, it had already happened. The damage was done. Expressing her anger or resentment towards him for interrupting her would lead to him apologizing to him. She would in turn forgive him, and they would right back where they started. She saw no need to complicate the situation further.

"It's a meditation technique. It helps to keep me centered, focused," she told him, taking her index finger to remove the hair in front of her face,tucking it gently behind her ear.

"That was great. Can you show me?"

"I can, but it takes time to get that level of concentration. That's why I come to the park, to limit my distractions."

"Oh no. I totally interrupted you. That was my fault. I'm sorry, Trini," Zack said sincerely.

"It's no problem," she told him. _See? Right back where we started,_ she thought. "If I had stayed any longer I would have been late for school anyway. We should get going," she said, putting on her tennis shoes.

Trini gathered her belongings, then made their way towards the school with Zack. Trini had to admit that at first glance, Zack was a lot to take in. His flamboyant and outgoing personality was the complete opposite of how she had been raised, but there was a charm to him that she admired. Zack seemed to embrace life, enjoying it to the fullest, while she seemed more interested in finding peace. After all, there was a lot of things in her past that was a cause for concern, and she wondered when those skeletons would find their way out of the closet.

As they walked, there was a chill in the air she hadn't noticed before. So preoccupied with her meditation that she hadn't accounted for the weather. Somehow, her yellow tank top and black shorts weren't doing the job.

"You're cold," Zack noticed as they walked.

She appreciated that his statement was that, a statement. He didn't ask her if she was cold, he simply realized she was and took steps to alleviate it. He removed his oversized black sweater, wrapping it around her. She allowed herself to be enveloped by the sweater, and almost instantly she was much warmer. From inside the sweater, she grabbed either side, pulling it closer to her. The smell of his cologne was all over it, and while it wasn't her original intention, she found herself drawn the scent.

"Thanks!"

"No problemo," he said cheerfully, wrapping his arm around her for additional warmth as they continued to walk.


	6. Chapter VI: The trials of Lokar

**[Tuesday, October 5th, 1993 12:01pm]**

The green power coin appeared to levitate slightly above a small pedestal Rita had constructed for it in the Moon Palace. It spun slightly as the green energy continued to surge through it. Goldar admired it, but knew enough not to touch it. He had to admit that as far as plans went, this was one of Rita's finest. While he would never bring himself to question her, he had begun to wonder if after 10,000 years if she was up for this. It was her actions that trapped them inside that _dumpster_ in the first place, and now that they were free, she seemed to be falling back on old habits. But, if this plan with the green ranger were to work the way she intended, maybe they had a shot to finally end this centuries old war with the Sage of Eltar.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice asked him.

Goldar was a trained warrior, so even though he hadn't said a word, he was well aware that Finster had entered the room. He could tell by the pattern of the footsteps, the weight of his feet and, most importantly, the sound of his tail dragging behind him as Finster entered.

"If it does what our Empress says it can, we will finally be rid of those bothersome rangers," Goldar snarled, never taking his eyes off the coin as it continued to twist and turn, crackling with energy.

"I crafted the spell myself, it will work. It searches your mind, finding your deepest, darkest desires and focuses them. The stronger the feelings, the more the spell with take hold. In 48 hours the spell will completely take hold and the green ranger will never be able to break free of it. He will belong to Rita," Finster explained.

"What about the Sword of Darkness?"

"The sword gains its strength from the warriors that are defeated with it. When bested in battle, the sword absorbs its enemy, trapping their essence inside the sword. Rita plans to give the sword to Tommy, assuming he can pass the trials."

Goldar couldn't help but be impressed. Rita truly had thought of everything this time around. The Trials of Lokar were known throughout the universe; it consisted of three trials, testing the limits of each being unfortunate enough to find themselves in the trial. In all of history, there was only one being who had been strong enough to not only survive the trials, but pass them, but even that was so long ago that Goldar had convinced himself it was a myth. He'd seen what happened to warriors who dared take the trial in hopes of gaining the sword, and all of them had failed.

"What if he doesn't?"

"Then I suppose its back to the drawing board," Finster reluctantly admitted. "The Empress seems to have a lot of faith in this… this _teenager_ ,"

"Teenagers are susceptible at this stage of development, open to suggestion. Its why that windbag Zordon keeps picking children to fight his war; he knows he can manipulate them, mold them. Its about time Rita followed suit," Goldar brought up.

"We may actually win this time."

"Yes, we will," he snarled.

* * *

 **[Tuesday, October 5th, 1993 1:46pm]**

There were only a few moments before the next class begin as Richie hurry to his locker to get the appropriate textbooks. His transition two Angel Grove High School had been a difficult one. He didn't know very many people and he always seems to be a target for the school bullies.

Bulk and Skull had developed a reputation at Angel Grove High School for not being the most intelligent people but that didn't stop them from having a two-on-one advantage with anyone they targeted. Bulk was easily over 200 pounds and while all of that wasn't muscle his fists still packed a punch. Score on the other hand was much skinnier and never really got physically involved but his constant heckling and berating took it's toll as well.

Richie thought the taking a karate class at the juice bar after school would help him with this but his Sensei seemed a little too preoccupied with a sense of Honor to teach him how to defend himself.

The hallways while crowded appear to be clear of bulk and skull and Richie hurried over to his locker. No sooner then when he opened his locker did bulk and skull seem to come from out of nowhere.

Bulk grabbed him by the collar pushing Richie up against the lockers.

"Look what we have here, Skull. It's another loser," Bulk scoffed.

"Yeah, a loser," Skull added.

"Gimme your lunch money or I'll turn you into a twerp sandwich, kid."

Richie reached in his pocket, ready to hand over everything he had, but it was Tommy who walked over to them. He remained silent as he accessed the situation.

"Get out of here, geek, or you're next," Bulk snapped.

Tommy took one slight step back, aiming a sabat kick at Bulks head. His foot stopped only an inch or two away from his face, but it was enough to make a point.

"Do you know how many bones are in the human skull bulk?" Tommy asked him never moving his foot and seeming to have perfect balance.

"I um…"

"Neither do I but if I see you bother this guy again I'm sure this kick will bring more of them then you like. Do we understand each other?" Tommy asked.

Bulk put Richie down, doing his best to straighten his clothes. Skull handed Richie his backpack.

"I think so."

"Good," Tommy said as he put his foot down.

Bulk and Skull head away in the opposite direction has Richie put his book bag over his shoulder and regained his composure.

"Thanks man. You saved my butt."

Tommy simply stared at him unsure what to say. He had no idea who this kid was or why those bullies would even take the time to harass him. But to Tommy that was irrelevant.

"Don't worry about it," Tommy said dryly, walking away.

He walked towards his class, but it was Kimberly, who had seen the entire incident, who hurried over to him.

"That was really nice of you. Bulk and Skull are such creeps," she said cheerfully.

"No big deal," he said in a monotone voice as they continued to walk. "No one should have to feel helpless."

"You're the new kid, right? I'm Kimberly," she introduced.

"Tommy."

"Would you want to get together after school at the juice bar? It's no big deal or anything just a few of us getting together and hanging out," she offered.

Tommy stopped. "Thanks, but I have plans. Another time," he told her.

"Oh. Okay," the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. "Well, I'll see you around," she said cheerfully, walking away.

* * *

 **[Tuesday, October 5th, 1993 3:33pm]**

Tommy stood in silence in the Moon Palace, watching as the green power coin levitated on its pedestal. The allure of power was intoxicating to him. _Think of it_ , he thought to himself. _Power. More power than you can even imagine. And it's all mine._

While Rita had done a good job of explaining to him about her centuries old war against Zordon and the power rangers, he had no interest in her personal conflicts. All he wanted was power. More specifically, he never wanted to feel helpless again.

 _With this coin, I will be strong. I will be powerful. No one will oppose me_ , he thought. He regretted not meeting Rita sooner, not being made this offer sooner. If he had, he may have been able to save her.

"It is an impressive sight, isnt it?" a voice asked him.

Tommy turned slightly as Holder emerged from the darkness, standing next to him. The coin continued to crackle with energy. It was almost as if the coin was calling to Tommy. Was it possible that the coin had a will of its own, he wondered. Even if it did, Tommy convinced himself that powers would be made to serve him.

"What do you want?" Tommy asked in what Goldar was convinced was a purposely disrespectful tone.

"My Empress has chosen you, but _I_ do not trust you. You aren't ready for the power that awaits you, and soon your inadequacies will be exposed. You will not survive the trials of Lokar."

"Trials?"

"In order to prove yourself worthy of the power, you will have to endure the three trials of Lokar. _If_ you manage to survive, you will have earned the Sword of Darkness and a place at the side of my Empress," he told him.

"I am ready," Tommy insisted.

Goldar let out a laugh that Tommy was convinced was meant to be disrespectful. "We will see, human."

There was a swirl of energy, and in an instant, Rita appeared across from them with her staff in hand.

"Leave us," she ordered.

"As you wish, my Empress," Goldar replied, turning and walking away.

"The time has come for you to take the Trials of Lokar. Lokar is the overseer of the Island of Illusion. You will be tested mentally, physically and emotionally. _If_ you survive, you…" she was interrupted.

" _When_ I survive," Tommy corrected.

" _If_ you survive, you will rewarded with the Sword of Darkness, the most powerful blade in the galaxy. With it, no force will be able to oppose you."

"I'm ready," he said, reaching out for the coin, but Rita quickly grabbed his wrist, stopping his hand inches away from the power coin.

"You will be given the power of the coin until you have succeeded. Power is only as good as the warrior who wields it."

The coin would have given him the advantage he needed, but he knew Rita was right. If he was going to earn the power, he had to do it on his own. He lowered his hand, nodding.

"I'm ready."

Rita waved her staff slightly, and a portal appeared in front of them. There was a slight hum to it as energy seemed to swirl around inside of it.

"Go, my evil green ranger. Go and make me proud. But if you do not succeed, do not bother returning," she warned.

Tommy was nervous, even a little scared as his heart raced, but it wasn't apparent by the look on his face. He turned to face Rita, nodded, and without another word stepped inside the portal.

As he stepped through the other side, he found himself still in the Moon Palace. It was the same room, but the pedestal housing the green power coin was gone, and there was no sign of Rita.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked out loud, unsure of what was happening, but stood ready.

"There must be some mistake," a voice said.

Tommy turned around quickly to see a female warrior standing there with a long blade in each hand. She wore golden armor that faintly reminded him of Goldar, but the armor only seemed to cover her chest, her right arm and leg, and some sort of helmet on her head. Her stance didn't indicate that she was confrontational at all, and Tommy was unsure of what to make of her.

"What happened?"

"I don't know how you got here, _human,_ " her inflection on the word human sounded condescending. "But this is no place for you. I am here to compete in the Trials of Lokar, so go back the way you came or I will destroy you myself," she hissed.

Tommys posture stiffened. "I am here for the Trials of Lokar. I am Empress Rita's green ranger," he said proudly.

The warrior cracked a half smile. "You? A human? Rita is really scraping the bottom of the barrel this time. _You_ think you are a match for the mighty Scorpina?" she asked.

"So is this a trial to see who can talk the most? Or should I put you down now?"

"You arrogant human! The cost of your arrogance will be your life!" Scorpina snarled, rushing towards him with both her swords.

Tommy dodged her swords, but she kicked him in the chest, knocking him up against the wall. He slid down to the floor, and Scorpina lunged downwards with her swords attempting to stab him.

Tommy rolled out the way, wrapping his legs around her ankles, tripping her. Scorpina fell over, but before she could get back to her feet, Tommy drilled his elbow into the back of her neck, then drove his knee into the side of her face. Scorpina was down, and Tommy kicked one of her swords away from her. He stood back, almost taunting her to come after him again.

"Why you little…" Scorpina charged at him again, but he was able to block every sword attack she attempted. She tried to kick him in the chest again, but this time he caught her foot, tripping her. Scorpina fell flat on her back, and before she could move, she realized Tommy had both swords in his hands, and he had them in an X shape pressed against her throat.

"Surrender," he said.

"To a human? Never! You'll have to kill me before I ever…" she was cut short as Tommy pushed downwards, separating her head from her body with one stroke.

Her body crackled with green and white energy, and within seconds she faded away. Tommy dropped both the swords, looking around the room.

"Is that it? Is that all you've got?" he called out, unsure of what was about to happen next but, at the very least, wanted to appear ready.

" _CONFIDENT. OR AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT PEOPLE TO THINK."_ a voice echoed through the entire room. " _YOUR DEMEANOR IS A FACADE, A RUSE. I SEE YOU FOR WHO YOU REALLY ARE THOMAS._ "

Tommy tried to figure out where the voice was coming from, but with no success.

"You see what happened to the last person who under estimated me. So are we going to fight, or are you going to play Wizard of Oz all day?"

" _YOU ALMOST BELIEVE THAT, DON'T YOU THOMAS? IT'S SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR._ "

"Lets get on with it," Tommy insisted.

" _AS YOU WISH."_

Smoke began to fill the room. Tommy was concerned about being able to breath as the smoke got so thick that he couldn't see anything. Through the smoke he could hear the sound of energy crackling. It reminded him of the sound the green power coin made while it sat on its pedestal, but much more intense.

"What's going on?"

Through the thick smoke, a figure began to emerge. Tommy stood ready, still a little wore from the last battle, but prepared to defend himself. As the figure came closer, Tommy got a better look at him and was stunned to see…

… himself. It was obviously him, but much older. His hair was shorter, and he was dressed in all black. He even had a little facial hair. More importantly, Tommy noted, he was unarmed.

"Tommy. Wait…" the doppelganger called out, holding his hands up.

"What is this?"

"I'm you. From the future. We only have a few moments. Please, pay very close attention," he urged him.

"No," Tommy caught his imposter with a kick to the chest, knocking him back. "You're an illusion. You're part of the trial. I have to defeat you," he insisted.

He kicked again, but the imposter deflected the attack. It became obvious rather quickly that whoever this was, he had no intention of attacking.

"Tommy, we don't have time for this. Things are about to be set into motion. You have to stop the rupture before it's too late," he said.

" _I KNEW IT. YOU'RE WEAK. YOU MANAGED TO DEFEAT SCORPINA BUT YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR EVEN THE SIMPLEST TRICKERY. YOU WILL FAIL, TOMMY,"_ the voice taunted.

"Tommy, you can't listen to him. This is a trick. I'm here to warn you. Your friends are in danger. The world is in danger. You have to stop the rupture," the imposter warned.

"The only thing that needs to stopped is you!" Tommy shot back, rushing in with a series of punches. Each one was blocked,but Tommy managed a leg sweep that knocked the imposter over.

He fell to the floor with a thud, and Tommy stood over him with a sword in hand.

"Tommy please. Stop this. I'm trying to help you," the stranger insisted.

"I don't need your help. My Empress has given me all the help I need," Tommy told him, lunging back and preparing to stab the imposter through the chest.

The stranger rolled out of the way, kicking the sword out of Tommy's hand, then caught him in the stomach with a kick that knocked him up against the wall. He placed his forearm against Tommy's throat, holding him in place.

"Damn it Tommy snap out of it. You need to listen. He's coming and unless we stop the rupture, we…" he was interrupted when Tommy put both his feet on the stranger's chest and kicked him, using the wall for even more strength. It was enough to knock the stranger back. He stumbled, stopping short of the window.

" _We_ don't have to do anything. _I_ have to win this. I _will_ win this," Tommy proclaimed, walking towards the stranger with determination.

"Someone special to me once told me strength doesn't come from winning. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, _that's_ real strength," he told him.

Tommy swung a punch, but it was caught. The stranger twisted his arm, ending up behind his back. Tommy struggled a bit, but then lunged back, forcing both of them out the window. They both found themselves hanging over the ledge, but it was the stranger who was holding on to Tommy as he clutched the windowsill, keeping both of them from falling.

"Just do it. End it," Tommy demanded, struggling to break free as if he wanted to be dropped.

With the last of his strength, the stranger pulled Tommy up, allowing him to grab the ledge.

"Remember. Seal the…" before he could finish his sentence, the stranger was gone. He didn't fall, he simply disappeared.

Tommy pulled himself up through the window and back into the chamber. He glanced over the side trying to make sense of it, but the imposter was just… gone.

" _VERY GOOD. THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU YET, HUMAN. PREPARE FOR YOUR THIRD AND FINAL TRIAL,_ " the voice announced.

Still a bit confused, Tommy opened his eyes, but he was no longer in the room he was in previously. Instead, it was a child's bedroom. He looked around, trying to make sense of his new surroundings. There were two twin size beds in the room, each on opposite sides. Over the bed on the left, on the wall were multi colored letters that spelled out DAVID. On the opposite side, above the bed on the right, there were letters that spelled out another name.

"Tommy," Tommy sighed. "This… this is _my_ bedroom. When I was a kid."

There were children in the beds fast asleep. He walked over to what was his bed and tried to pull back the cover, only to discover that his hand went straight through.

"What the…"

" _YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO EFFECT ANYTHING HERE, THOMAS. THIS IS YOUR PAST. YOUR CHILDHOOD. THIS IS THE NIGHT IT HAPPENED, ISN'T IT?"_ the voice asked.

Tommy sighed. "Yes."

Without another word, Tommy walked straight through the bedroom door and into the hall. The door next to his bedroom door had the same multi colored letters as in his room, but they spelled out…

"Elaine," he sighed.

Tommy watched as the door at the end of the hallway opened, and his father stepped out into the hall wearing only his boxers, robe and house shoes. He quietly walked over to Elaine's door, turning the knob and stepping in.

"Don't worry honey, its daddy. You want to play a game?" he whispered.

"No," a voice answered softly. The voice was filled with fear and nervousness.

His father undid his robe, opening it as he stepped inside. "Don't worry sweetheart, it'll be fun," he insisted. He glanced back and forth one final time, then finally closed the door behind himself.

" _HOW LONG, THOMAS? HOW LONG DID HE DO SUCH HORRIBLE THINGS TO YOUR LITTLE SISTER?_ " the voice asked him.

"For months, maybe years. She was only seven years old," he confessed.

" _SHE LOOKED UP TO YOU, IDOLIZED YOU. SHE LAID IN BED AT NIGHT WISHING YOU WOULD SAVE HER. SHE WISHED YOU WOULD TAKE THE PAIN AWAY, BUT YOU NEVER DID, DID YOU?_ "

"I was ten years old. What was I supposed to do?"

" _ANYTHING. ANYTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER THAN WHAT YOU DID."_

From the other side of the door, he could hear his sister crying. It was a sound that had haunted him his entire life. Her low whimpering, her tears, the occasional grunt or sigh from his father. Each little sound sent a chill down Tommy's spine.

He dropped down to his knees and tears rolled down his face. It was a part of his past he had never been able to escape, never able to come to terms with. Her pain, her suffering… it was his fault.

Just then, his bedroom door opened and a young Tommy walked out into the hallway wearing a pair of white pajamas red stars on them. In his hand was his stuffed green dragon that his sister had saved her allowance for weeks to get it for his tenth birthday. Though he tried to pretend he was too old for stuffed animals, he never admitted to her that it was one of his prized possessions.

Tommy looked up as his younger self stumbled into the wall, yawning and wiping his eyes.

"No, daddy," Elaine whimpered sadly.

Young Tommy walked over to the door, trying to open the door but realized the door was locked.

"Laney?" he called out.

"Go back to bed, Thomas!" his father screamed.

" _YOUR SISTER NEEDED YOU. SHE WAS COUNTING ON YOU. YOU_ _KNEW_ _WHAT HE WAS DOING IN THERE BUT YOU CHOSE TO DO NOTHING. YOU WERE A COWARD._ " the voice taunted.

Tommy watched as his younger self ran back into his room, only to return a moment later with a black jacket on. He hurried down the steps and out the front door, never looking back.

" _WHERE DID YOU GO?_ " the voice asked.

Tommy, completely devastated, saw no more need to deny it. There was no use fighting, there was nothing _to_ fight. It was all happening again exactly as he remembered it.

"I… just left. I ran away. Police found me the next day behind a diner in Stone Canyon trying to find food in a dumpster. I told them everything, and that led to my father being arrested. We were all put into the foster care system, I never saw David or Elaine again," he confessed.

" _TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE, THOMAS. IF ONLY YOU HAD BEEN STRONG ENOUGH. IF ONLY YOU WEREN'T SUCH A WEAKLING. YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER. BUT YOU WERE A COWARD. YOU WERE WEAK THEN AND YOU'RE WEAK NOW. RITA CHOSE POORLY WHEN SHE SELECTED YOU FOR THE SWORD. YOU WERE NEVER BE WORTHY. YOU WILL NEVER BE STRONG ENOUGH. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE THAT 10 YEAR OLD BOY WHO ABANDONED HIS SISTER. YOURE NOTHING._ "

The voice was only echoing sentiments that Tommy had told himself a million times before. Ever since that night, he has been trying to escape this memory. He learned how to defend himself, mastering every form of martial arts he could find. He was determined never to be that little boy again. He wanted to be strong enough to protect himself, to protect her. Now he knew it didn't matter how far he ran, how much to stayed to himself, how hard he trained, this one moment was always going to be a part of him.

" _YOU HAVE FAILED, THOMAS. YOU WILL NEVER BE WORTHY OF THE SWORD OF DARKNESS. YOUR PUNISHMENT IS TO REMAIN HERE, RELIVING THIS MOMENT FOR ALL OF ETERNITY,_ " the voice taunted. " _YOU LET THIS HAPPEN. IN A WAY, IN ANY WAY THAT MATTERS, YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN YOUR FATHER. IT MAY AS WELL HAVE BEEN YOU IN THERE VIOLATING YOUR SISTER. YOU'RE PATHETIC, TOMMY OLIVER,_ " the voice said, laughing at him.

Tommy wasn't sure if it was the sinister voice that sent him over the edge, reliving this moment from his past, being told that his fate was to remain in this moment, or a combination of all of it, but in that moment all his doubt, fear and pain were replaced with rage.

He stood up, and in a moment of blind anger, kicked his sisters door off the hinges. His father was standing there putting his robe back on.

"What the hell are you?" he snapped.

" _YES, THOMAS. DO IT. END HIS LIFE. END HER SUFFERING. PROVE THAT YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO PROTECT HER. PROVE YOU ARE WORTHY,_ " the voice urged.

Tommy balled his fist, trembling with anger _._ He knew he could easily dispose of his father, but it was then that he realized.

"No," he took a deep breath. "There is no changing the past. No more running, no more hiding. I accept this. This is part of me," Tommy said, closing his eyes.

" _WELL DONE, THOMAS._ "

Tommy opened his eyes only to find himself back in the Moon Palace. The pedestal holding the green power coin was there, as well as Rita.

"I knew you could do it," she insisted. "Congratulations my evil green ranger."

Tommy stood in front of Rita, dropping to one knee. "It is done."

"Rise and accept your reward," she said.

Tommy rose to his feet. The green power coin disappeared, and almost all at once Tommy found himself in the green ranger costume. He extended his hand, and the Sword of Darkness appeared in his hand. It was long and thin, and on the end just above the handle was a symbol that closely resembled the design of Rita's staff.

"The sword possesses the power of every warrior that has ever fallen to its blade. With it, you will be able to finally destroy Zordon and the power rangers. We will rule this galaxy… and will we destroy anyone who opposes us," there was a slight pause. "Even Dark Spector himself."

"It will be done, my Empress," Tommy snarled.


	7. Chapter VII: Jason pt I

[Tuesday, October 5th, 1993 4:18pm]

Jason Scott stood ready in front of a group of half a dozen students, each of them wearing traditional karate attire. Ernie had been nice enough to allow Jason to teach a small karate class in the juice bar, and he took advantage of it whenever his schedule allowed him to. Granted, over the last six months that had not been very often. His responsibilities as not only a power ranger, but leader of the group were extremely demanding.

Even so, when time permitted, it gave Jason an opportunity to unwind.

"Gary," he stopped front of one of the students, who immediately stood at attention. "What is the goal of martial arts?" Jason asked him.

"To teach discipline, confidence and…" the student stopped, unsure of how to answer.

Jason immediately recognized his students discomfort and took a step back, looking at the entire group.

"Can anyone finish Gary's sentence for him?" he inquired.

One student, who had been in the back of the group, took a step forward. "To learn how to beat people up," he said proudly.

The students collectively snickered at the comment, but it subsided quickly as they each saw the disappointment on Jason's face.

"No, Richie. That isn't what martial arts is about. It's about self defense, self control. Anyone can throw a punch, but the trick is to learn _when_ to throw a punch and when to walk away," he explained.l

"Of course, sensei," he responded.

"Stand ready."

Richie, who was a few inches shorter than Jason, prepared himself. His arms went up in a defensive stance.

"Martial arts isn't about offense, it's about defense. Might doesn't make right, and you have no right to inflict your will on others," Jason told him.

"Tell that to the bullies who bother us all time," a few of the other students nodded, mummering their opinions in agreeance. "Not all of us are a 3rd degree black belt like you, sensei. We just want to feel safe."

Jason nodded. "I understand, but if you use martial arts to go after bullies you're no better than the bully. It is to be used as defense, and only as a last resort. Am I clear?" he called out.

"Yes, sensei," the group said in unison.

"Yes, sensei," Richie stated separately, stressing to Jason that his point was taken.

"Class dismissed," Jason said, bowing slightly. The entire class bowed together, then gathered their belongings and dispersed.

With the class cleared out, Jason headed over to his usual table at the juice bar, where Zack and Trini were sitting. He sat down, planting his elbows on the table, then his face into his palms, letting out a sigh.

"Tough class?" Trini asked him.

The truth was, Jason was becoming frustrated with things. In his class, he taught the importance of never escalating a battle. He taught them that violence was the last resort, and while that were true in many cases, it wasn't the case for everything.

Zordon made it very clear when they received their powers that they were never to start a fight, only finish it, but in the case of Rita Repulsa it didn't seem to be the most sound advice. They _knew_ Ritas base of operation was on the moon. Why not take the fight to Rita and get it over quickly? How many lives could be saved if they simply stopped waiting for Rita to attack and just went after her?

None of the other rangers seemed to share his sentiment and were content to wait around for Rita to attack an innocent group of people, _then_ respond, so he chose to keep his concerns to himself.

"No, just tired," he glanced around, then leaned in closer to them. "It's weird that there hasn't been a peep out of Rita for a while now. Its been quiet," he said.

"Yeah. Too quiet," Zack added with a chuckle and a half smile.

"No I mean it. She's up to something. I can feel it."

"If she is, we'll be ready," Trini assured him, reaching out and touching his hand slightly.

Jason let out another sigh. "You're right," he reluctantly agreed.

"I'm going to grab a smoothie while I wait for the others to get here. You guys want anything?" Zack asked, lifting his leg up over the back of the chair and standing up.

"I'll have a banana smoothie," Jason said.

"Make that two," Trini added, holding up two fingers in agreement.

"You got it," Zack said, then headed off in the direction of the front counter.

"He'll be gone for a minute. You wanna tell me what's really going on?" she asked him.

Before becoming a power ranger, he'd seen Trini around school, but that was about it. When he taught his classes in the park, sometimes he'd seen her sitting under a tree reading. But after fate had thrown them together with a common cause, he took the time to get to know her. Trini was wise beyond her years. She was easily the heart and soul of the team, _his_ team, so he knew lying to her was not an option.

Yet, telling her the truth wasn't an option for him either, so he found a comfortable middle. Jason reached in his pocket, pulling out a small box and presented it to her.

"What do you think of this?" he asked.r

Trini opened the box to reveal a small gold bracelet. On each end were small gold balls, and engraved underneath the bracelet was a word.

Rather, a name.

"Kimberly," she sighed, running her finger across the engraving. "She's going to love it."

"You sure? I mean, it's been over a year since she dated anyone and I know that it ended rough for her. Do you think…"

"She's over what happened last year with David, I promise you. She's ready, but you'll have to move slowly. You don't want to pressure her," Trini explained.

Jason recalled last year being a bit rough for him as well, dealing with his own family issues. The last thing he wanted to do was pressure Kimberly. He took the box back from Trini, closing it and putting it back in his pocket.

"I'll talk to her tonight," he said.

"Good. You guys will be great together," she assured him.

Billy and Kimberly walked into the juice bar together, heading over to the table with Jason and Trini. Billy sat down next to Jason giving him a high five as Kimberly sat next to Trini, hugging her slightly.

"Hey guys, whats up?" Kimberly asked.

Jason went to open his mouth, but Trini immediately realized he was having a hard time. "Jason just finished a class. We've just been waiting for you guys," she said.

"Sorry, we were in the library studying for Mr. Chapman's chem test," Billy added.

Jason stared at Kimberly as she and Trini made small talk with one another. It amazed him how he could stand toe to toe with the forces of evil, yet something as simple as telling Kimberly he was interested in her was too much of a feat for him.

Jason parted lips to say something, to say _anything_ , but was interrupted with the all too familiar sound his communicator beeping. Each of them glanced around to not only see if anyone else heard it, but to find a secluded spot where they could respond.

Zack walked over to them struggling to hold three smoothies by himself, setting each of them down.

"Aw man, those cost me six bucks," he complained.

The five of them headed to the back room of the juice bar, each of them gathering around Jason and he reached for his communicator.

"We read you, Zordon," he said, speaking for the group.

" _Rangers, teleport to the Command Center at once,_ " a voice answered.

"We're on our way," Jason glanced back, nodding at each of them as they all reached for the communicator on their wrists.

Billy tried explaining to then once exactly how molecules were broken down, dispersed, teleported and then reassembled at their desired destination, but it was far more technical that Jason cared to admit.

All Jason knew was that they were all encompassed in a stream of light corresponding to their ranger color, and when the light dissipated, they were at their destination.

The five of them appeared in the Command Center, which had served as the base of operation for them ever since they became rangers. They were surrounded by control panels, all of which was humming and beeping in unison. At the front of the room was a long, slender tube.

"What is it Zordon?" Jason asked, once again acting as the voice for the group.

"Behold the viewing globe," he ordered.

The five of them headed to the opposite end of the room where a large sphere rested. The viewing globe blinked on, where Goldar could be seen destroying the city.

"Looks like Goldar is up to no good," Billy chimed in.

"So much for things being quiet," Zack added.

Just then, it was A.L.P.H.A. Five who staggered into the command center and over to one of control panels.

"Ay yi yi yi yi, and that's not all. There are putties in the industrial area and a monster heading towards downtown Angel Grove," he warned them.

Despite being a report with no actual emotions, there was still a sense of urgency in his voice.

"We're going to have to split up. Billy, you and Trini to the industrial area. Zack, take Kimberly and cut that monster off before it makes it downtown. Ill handle Goldar," Jason ordered.

It was Kimberly who approached Jason, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure? Goldar looks like he means business," she mentioned.

"So do I," he turned, getting into position as he reached around to his back with his right hand. "Its morphin time!" he called out.

"MASTADON!"

"PHERADACTAL!"

"TRISERATOPS!"

"SABER TOOTHED TIGER!"

"TYRANNOSAURUS!"

The energy began to swirl around them. Hissing, crackling. Then, in an instant, each of them transformed into the power rangers.

"Alright rangers, let's do it!" Jason ordered.

"Right!" they all complied in unison, then disappeared into a stream of light.

"I wonder what Rita is up to this time," A.L.P.H.A. Five mentioned.

"Whatever it is, the rangers will be ready for it," Zordon assured him.

"Think again, old man!" a voice snarled.

There was a stream of green energy, and no sooner did the rangers leave, the green ranger appeared in the command center with the Sword of Darkness in hand.

"Ay yi yi…" before A.L.P.H.A. Five could finish, the green ranger placed a disc in the slot of A.L.P.H.A. Fives back, causing him to malfunction.

"System error. Syyyyy… tum… rrrrr," he managed to moan as his voice got slower, deeper and more distorted. Finally, it stopped altogether, and A.L.P.H.A. Five slumped over.

"How is it possible you are here? Only one who has a power coin may enter this fortress undetected," Zordon bellowed.

The green ranger removed the green power coin from his belt. "Yes I have the coin and the power. And there's nothing you can do to stop me!" the green ranger said in a deep, menacing tone.

"So Rita has finally chosen someone to give it to."

"Right, Zordon. I am her green ranger and she is my Empress!"

"I see you have the Sword of Darkness. Rita must be using it to control you. You are under a spell," Zordon paused, it was only for an instant, but in that one moment he was able to get all the information he needed. "Tommy, let me help. I can save you."

 _How did he…_ before the green ranger could even allow himself to finish the thought, he dismissed it.

"Worry about saving yourself, old man!" he snapped, then began to rip apart one of the control panels. The lights in the Command Center began to flicker, and sparks shot out of the panels. With one destroyed, he turned to another, and another.

"Tom… you have to… stop this… you must… please don't… You'll cause a rupture in the..."

 _Rupture?_ Tommy thought to himself. The statement was enough to make Tommy pause, but it was only for a moment. The entire Command Center powered down, all the lights went dark, and Zordon was gone.

"It is done, my Empress. Zordon has been eliminated, and the power rangers are next!" Tommy said proudly, laughing with a sinister tone in his voice.

[Tuesday, October 5th, 1993 5:36pm]

The red ranger teleported into the city, where the citizens were running in panic. Goldar kicked a parked car, sending it crashing into a building.

Red ranger glanced around, and it seemed as though there was no rhyme or reason for Goldars attack. He didn't seem to have a goal in mind; it was simply random acts of violence. He knew Goldar well enough to know something wasn't right.

"That's far enough, Goldar!" he called out, standing ready with his sword in hand.

"You're quite right, red ranger. That is enough. Now, the real fun begins," he growled, rushing in after him.

Goldar swung his sword, but the red ranger was able to block and counter each one. He tried for a kick, but Goldar blocked. Goldar tried for a kick, but it was blocked. It was almost as if he wasn't trying to get the upper hand. It was almost as though…

"This is just a distraction," the red ranger realized.

"You're not as stupid as you look, ranger. But no matter, it's too late," he told him.

The red ranger reached for his belt buckle to teleport away, but Goldar opened his hand revealing a small yellow box. A beam of energy came from the box, connecting with the red ranger… and he disappeared.


	8. Chapter VIII: Rita

[Tuesday, October 5th, 1993 6:08pm]

Rita sat on her throne as a sense of Pride swelled within her. For so long zadar and anyone he recruited have been a thorn in her side but that was finally coming to an end. While she may have to suffer defeat after defeat at the hands of the Power Rangers it had all been an end to justify the means. The Green Ranger was now in possession of the Sword of Darkness the command center was all but destroyed leaving Zordon in a sort of temporal limbo. And with their Mentor out of the way the other rangers would be no match for her.

The Earth would fall and she would enslave all mankind to search for and retrieve the additional power sources left behind on Earth by the Eltarian people. She would amass an army of loyal soldiers with infinite power and one by one take over every planet in the galaxy. It would only be a matter of time before she would have the power she needed to stand up to dark Specter himself.

"REPULSA!" a voice echoed through the entire chamber. The inflection in the voice made it obvious he was angry.

Rita, unrattled by the voice, looked around. "What do you want Lokar?"

"YOU DARE TO INTERFERE IN MY TRIAL?"

"What are you babbling about?" Rita snarled.

"DURING THE TRIAL THERE WAS AN ANOMALY. I DO NOT MEDDLE IN THE AFFAIRS OF YOUR TRIVIAL WAR. DO NOT MEDDLE WITH MINE!"

"When you are in my palace you will address me with respect, you disembodied dufus. Disrespect me again and it will be your last."

"EMPTY THREATS, REPULSA. YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT. YOUR RUDIMENTARY SORCERY IS NO MATCH FOR MY DARK MAGIC. IN FACT, YOU LACK THE ABILITY TO INTERFERE IN MY TRIALS, BUT I ALLOWED YOUR WARRIOR TO PROCEED OUT OF SHEER CURIOSITY. THERE ARE FORCES AT WORK BEYOND YOUR LIMITED COMPREHENSION, AND I AM INTRIGUED TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS."

"What are you going on about, Lokar? I am the Empress of Evil. Nothing is beyond me," she paused, awaiting a response, but there was silence. "Lokar?" she waited again. "Lokar? You're giving me a headache," she groaned.

At that moment, Goldar skulked into the room standing in front of her then dropping down to one knee.

"My Empress," he said in his usual deep, raspy voice. Not that Rita heard it that way. From the moment Goldar was assigned to her, he had gone nothing but grovel.

"First Lokar, now this. What do you want you big, gold buffon?" she snapped.

"My Empress. I was told that you summoned Scorpina for the Trials of Lokar. I am pleased that you reconsidered for the green ranger powers," he said.

"You're a bigger idiot than you look, Goldar. I summoned her, but not to claim the Sword of Darkness, but to be fed to Tommy as fodder in the first trial. She was defeated swiftly by my evil green ranger."

"I see," wild goldar was completely enraged by Rita's decision he also knew not to question his empress. Scorpina was a formidable Warrior and in his opinion deserved a better fate than to be used as a pawn. "Where is she now? Together we will interrogate the Red Ranger. I have captured him and he is trapped in my dark dimension," he suggested.

"You really aren't listening are you tinhead? Tommy destroyed her in the trials. Scorpina is no more," she told him.

"WHAT?" Goldar let out a menacing growl like Rita had never heard before. His anger hat far surpassed rage. But in the time it took for him to rise to his feet he collected his composure. "She died a warrior's death," he said, comforting himself with the idea that she met her end on the battlefield.

Still, Goldar was not pleased with Rita's decision or her nonchalant attitude towards Scorpina, who had been a loyal soldier in the battle against Zordon and the Eltarian people. Even when her plans seem nonsensical he supported Rita, but this time he couldn't. He knew the time was coming where he would have to make a decision but right now was it the time.

"Bring me the head of the Red Ranger for my trophy room along with his red power coin. Without their leader to instruct them and with no connection to Zordon the other rangers will fall," Rita declared.

"As you wish, my Empress," Goldar snarled, walking away.

[Tuesday, October 5th, 1993 6:30pm]

Zack and the others teleported back to the Command Center, only to find everything completely shut down.

"What happened here?" Trini asked, looking around.

Billy hurried over to the only control panel that wasn't destroyed, trying to determine the extent of the damage.

"Main power and the secondary subsystems are off line," he told them. "And if I'm reading this correctly there's some sort of temporal build up happening within the tube."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. Until I'm able to get the main systems back online, reestablish the link with Zordon and do a full diagnostic on all the command Pathways in the command center I won't know for sure," Billy informed them.

"You can you get Zordon back?" Kimberly asked.

"It's going to take time to repair everything."

"Who could have done this?" Zack asked.

"Oh no, A.L.P.H.A." Trini sighed as she realized he was not functioning.

The Rangers rushed over to him but left Billy enough room to do a quick examination.

"It just appears his power systems are down. A quick reboot of his systems and a charge and he should be just fine," he told them.

"Wait," Trini looked around. "Where is Jason?"

Zack reached for his communicator. "Jason come in."

There was no response.

"Billy your top priority should be to get Alpha functional again. He will be able to tell you more about the command center systems so you aren't just working blind. Kimberly and I we'll begin our search for Jason," Zack said, assuming control.

"Agreed."

"I'll stay here with Billy. Two heads are better than one," Trini added.

"Sounds good. Until we know exactly what happened here and figure out where Jason is no one should be alone. Will stay paired up and check in every hour," he ordered.

Each of them nodded,tacitly agreeing. Zack glanced over at Kimberly, who nodded as they both reached for the communicators, disappearing into streams of light.

[Tuesday, October 5th, 1993 time unknown]

Jason had no way of determining exactly how long he had been… wherever he was. At first glance Jason felt it was reasonable to assume this was one of the rooms in Rita's Moon Palace. It amazed him that there was a breathable atmosphere on the moon. Then again with the lifestyle he led being able to breathe in space was not the most remarkable thing he'd seen in the last 6 months.

There were windows all along the right side of the wall and a quick peek out allowed him to get a good look at the Earth from a great distance away. It was amazing how small and insignificant the planet looked. Alarm each of the walls War swords in an X shape and a shield in front of each. Some were stained with blood others had… Another substance covering them. There was just a thin layer of smoke on the ground that came a little below his knee.

"Welcome to my dark dimension, red ranger," Goldar said as he stepped into the room.

Jason try to determine where gold are came from but there were no discernible entrances or exits from the room. He instinctively reached by behind his back for his power Morpher only to discover…

"Looking for this?" Goldar held up the Morpher, taunting Jason with it. "If you had your Morpher you could teleport out of this place with no problem. All you have to do is defeat me and pry it from my cold dead hands," he told him.

"You won't get away with this Goldar. The others will…" he was cut short.

"The others will do nothing. The Power Rangers have been cut off from their precious mentors or. And the Green Ranger is wreaking havoc period is only a matter of time before Angel Grove bends to the will of Rita repulsa."

"What? Green ranger? What are you talking about?"

"Rita has given the 6th power coin to her own ranger, and he has eliminated Zordon," he said.

"I think your helmet is on a little too tight Goldar. There is no green ranger," Jason insisted.

"You have taken the mantle of Red Ranger and involved yourself in a war that has raged for centuries, yet you know nothing about the source of your power or even why you were selected. Pathetic."

"Then enlighten me."

"You'd like that wouldn't you Jason? You'd like me to connect all the dots and make this simple for you wouldn't you?" he paused. "You know nothing of the coins or their Legendary Power. You are a disgrace to the Legacy of the Sages. You were never Worthy."

Jason stood ready. "How about we see which one of us is worthy?"

"Nothing would give me greater pleasure, red ranger," Goldar snarled, standing ready.

Jason swung with a punch but Goldar caught his hand, using his size and strength advantage, applying pressure and forcing Jason down to one knee. Jason swung with the other hand, but Goldar swatted him away.

"That windbag Zordon made _you_ the leader? What a waste!"

Goldar kicked Jason in the chest, forcing him to slide across the floor, eventually stopping as he hit the wall. Jason stood up, trying to shake some life back into his arm.

He swung again, connecting with Goldars for face, then followed up with a side kick and a flurry of punches. Goldar stumbled back slightly, losing his balance. Jason, sensing victory, rushed at Goldar. He jumped into the air, hoping to connect with one final blow, but Goldar swung his sword, catching Jason across the chest.

Jason fell to the floor again as blood poured out of the open wound on his chest. Jason removed his shirt, pressing it against the wound, but still stood ready.

"Is that all you got Goldar?" he asked.

"Make yourself at home, Jason. You are never leaving this place. But before I destroy you and present your corpse to my Empress, I will break you," Goldar told him, taking a few steps back and disappearing into the smoke.

Once he was sure Goldar was gone, Jason was able to drop the facade of being ready to fight and collapsed to the floor, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

"I gotta find a way out of here," he sighed.


	9. Chapter IX: Billy

[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 7:38am]

Billy Cranston considered himself smart. Very smart.

In elementary school, he spent his free time correcting grammatical errors in his text books. While other children were busy at recess running around and playing, Billy was in the classroom assisting the teacher grading papers and preparing lesson plans. By middle school he was reading books on a college level and attending lectures about thermodynamics and quantum mechanics.

Other children his age were concerned with sports, or social activities, but Billy wanted to learn as much as he could about the world and how it worked. By the time he reached high school, he was working after school as a tutor for graduate students at a local University. The words prodigy and genius was thrown around quite a bit in conversations where his name came up, but to him, this was simply how he was. He enjoyed learning and wanted to know as much as he could on every subject.

He'd read every book by some of the world's foremost scholars, scientists and physicists, and considered himself well versed on topics most people hadn't even heard of.

Yet, as he stood over A.L.P.H.A. Five with the panel in his back wide open, he found himself as a lose. The circuity was so advanced, so sophisticated that it may as well been written in another language.

Or, at the very least, one of the very few languages Billy hadn't mastered.

"Any luck?" Trini asked him, sitting up against one of the panels in the command center as Trini worked.

Trini introduced Billy to a world that wasn't in a text book, or couldn't be found in a seminar. _Life_ was happening all around him. People, places, nature,social interaction. There were all foreign concepts to Billy, but Trini helped him to see that while the pursuit of knowledge was important, it was equally as important to close a book every now and then and just live life.

Being a power ranger had not only opened his mind to social interaction and being part of a team, he also learned that disciplining his body was just as important as disciplining his mind. He'd tried his hand at Jason's karate class, even taking some of his free time to work out. Granted, he listened to pre recorded lectures as he worked out, but he was getting there.

"I can't make heads or tails of this. I don't know what belongs and what doesn't. His systems are… complex," he admitted.

"We have to get A. .A. back on his feet. He's the only one who can help us get Zordon back," Trini reminded him.

"I know, it's just that…" he paused for a moment, getting a better look at the inner workings. "This looks like a firewall."

"Firewall?"

"Most critical systems have a firewall in place to prevent tampering or corruption of major operating systems," he said.

"So it stops things from getting into the system that can harm or damage it?" she asked.

"Yes. In this case, the firewall was activated when someone or something tried to access his systems, and in defense the firewall shut down all critical function to prevent someone gaining access. This wasn't just random. This was a deliberate attack," Billy said.

"But who? No one can even get in here without a power coin" she brought up.

"Are the internal censors online?"

Trini stood up,walking over to the control panel and checking. "Yes, but there is some sort of interference. There's some sort of energy build up," she told him.

Billy reached into A.L.P.H.A Five, pulling out a cord, handing it to Trini. "Connect this to the port on the right side of the panel. It should allow me to see what new coding was added to him recently that caused the shutdown," he said.

Trini plugged it in, and the panel began to whirl and hum.

"The analysis will take a few moments," he warned.

"So have you thought about what we talked about the other day?"

Billy didn't want to admit it to her but he had thought about it more often then he care to share with her. Trini had served as his emotional guide to the social world. She shown him the very things even more important than charts and diagrams. For the last few weeks she had been encouraging him to make more friends and even suggested that he find someone he was romantically interested in at attempt to start a relationship.

The only problem with that was that his duties as the blue Power Ranger took precedence over any trivial social interaction. He had made great strides by becoming friends with Zack and the others but that wasn't nearly as personal as an intimate one-on-one relationship.

Besides there were things about him that he wasn't necessarily ready to admit to Trini. There were aspects of his life that he was trying to come to terms with. In fact after giving it serious deliberation he was left with the conclusion that he had immersed himself and so many books and lectures because he was running from having to deal with his own personal issues. He thought that if he surrounded himself with knowledge and education no one would see exactly how _different_ he was.

He attempted a relationship with a young lady in his computer science class. While she was a very attractive young lady in his opinion he simply didn't feel anything for her. There was no attraction there and while he knew why, he wasn't ready to express that to Trini or the others. If he didn't fully understand it yet he was convinced the others wouldn't either.

At least not yet.

"I have."

"Do you and Marge still talk?" she asked.

"No, it just didn't work out. I think that…" he was relieved when the panel beeped. "Scan complete. According to this new software was introduced to his systems, but the firewall blocked it," he turned to A.L.P.H.A. Five, opening a panel in his back. "This…" he reached in, pulling out a disc. "This is the problem," he said.

No sooner did he remove the disc did A.L.P.H.A. Fives systems come back online.

"Err… err… system mal… reinitiate… drives… systems back…" there was a slight pause. "Ay yi yi yi yi, I'm so glad to see you guys," A.L.P.H.A. said.

"Billy, you did it!"

"What happened here A.L.P.H.A?" Billy asked.

"Unknown. Malicious software detected. My systems shut down to prevent access to data files," he said.

"Someone got in the command center and trashed it," she said.

"That's impossible. No one gets into the command center without a power coin," he mentioned.

"Well someone did, and we can't locate Zordon," Billy told him. "I managed to repair the panels and restore power, but Zordon is just… lost."

A.L.P.H.A. walked over to the panels. "There is temporal energy rupture forming. Because Zordon is a inter dimensional being, this energy is stopping him from accessing this dimension."

"There are other dimensions?" Trini asked.

"Millions. Billions. Billions of millions. But if we want to get Zordon back, we need to locate the rupture and seal it with…"

"Anti proton bursts," Billy and A.L.P.H.A. said in unison.

"We have a proton acceleration device in the lower levels of the command center. We can modify it to emit an antiproton burst and seal it."

"You two get to the lower levels and find the device, I'll try to narrow down where the rupture is," Trini said.

Billy nodded, following A.L.P.H.A. as the two of them walked away.

[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 time unknown]

Through the telescope in her throne room, Rita Repulsa watched as Zack and Kimberly walked through the park alone.

Everything was it going according to her plan. After countless centuries of fighting Zordon had been defeated and the Green Ranger had almost single-handedly defeated the Power Rangers. And with Jason trapped in the dark dimension it was only a matter of time before she was in possession of the entire set of power coins.

"Goldar!" she screamed, demanding that he stand before her, but there was no response. This seemed to be the perfect time to eliminate the black and pink ranger, as she intended to send Goldar down to finish them.

"I'm afraid Goldar is… indisposed, my queen," Finister mentioned to her,walking into the throne room.

"What? Where is he?"

Finister was well aware of Goldar's location but also knew that gold are needed a moment to collect his thoughts. The loss of such a respected warrior impacted him more than he would ever admit. Goldar and Scorpina had fought side-by-side for generations and to hear that she was eliminated so pointlessly struck a chord with him.

"Last I saw him, he was engaged in battle with the red ranger in the dark dimension," he told her.

"Very well. Prepare a squadron of putties and send them to the park to intercept the pink and black Ranger. I want them trapped in the dark dimension as well," she ordered.

"As you wish," Finister replied, turning to walk away, heading to his factory.

As soon as he stepped into the corridor he was stopped by Goldar. Goldar was at least a full two feet taller than Finister, forcing Finister the look upwards at him.

Goldar placed his hand on Finister's should slightly. "Thank you," he said in s low voice, not wanting Rita to overhear him.

"I know you and Scorpina were... close," the two of them headed down the corridor on the way to Finister's lab. "I have been doing some research on the Sword of Darkness and I believe there may be a way to save Scorpina," he told him.

"What? How?"

"Because she was destroyed during the trials of Lokar, that means her essence has been trapped within the sword, but because she wasn't destroyed by the sword directly, even if you do manage to free her, she would be incorporeal," he said.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means she would be free, but would have no body. Much like I use my monster matic to provide new bodies for fallen warriors, I can do the same for her," he explained.

"How do we save her?" Goldar asked.

Finister reached in the pocket of his apron, pulling out a small vile, handing it to Goldar. "If the sword is destroyed before the spell takes its hold on the green ranger permanently, her essence should be contained in this. Once it is, I will be able to provide her with a new body."

The thought of scorpina being confined in the body of one of Rita's ridiculous monsters was it Goldar's first choice, but it was better than the oblivion she had been left in.

"How do break the sword?"

"While the sword itself contains unlimited power it is still itself just a sword. Break the blade and Scorpina will be free but it also means the spell on the Green Ranger will be lifted," Finister warned.

Goldar had stood idly by for too long as many of his comrades-in-arms had fallen to the Power Rangers. While it was easy to blame the Rangers for their defeat most of the blame had to make place on Rita herself. Since their arrival in the sector his comrades had been given inferior forms and sit down as a sacrifice all in the name of powering the sword. There may not have been a way to save them but now presented with an opportunity to rescue scorpina from an eternity in limbo goldar knew what he had to do.

If he were to do this admit that score peanut could never show her face to Rita repulsa ever again. Goldar would bring the vile to Finster and he would provide scorpina with a new body. But from there she would have to start a new life. If Rita will ever to discover she had been resurrected it would be obvious that gold are played a part in it. So for Scorpina's safety, and just as importantly Goldar's personal safety, her identity would have to remain a secret. Moreover if Scorpina could be resurrected, when she disappeared Goldar had every intention of disappearing with her.

Rita was simply assume that goldar was destroyed in battle. He and scorpina would simply go to a different sector of the Galaxy and live their lives quietly.

"How long do I have before she is trapped forever?" he asked.

"Less than 8 hours. Remember, even if you succeed there is no way for her to ever have her original body back. It's gone. Whatever you're going to do, you're going to have to not only do it quickly, but do it in a way that doesn't let Rita know you betrayed her."

"Why are you helping me?"

"I'm a doctor. I took an oath to do no harm. If a putty patroller is hurt, it is no matter as they are mindless. But providing fallen warriors with a chance to live again… that's why I help Rita. If resurrecting them gives them an opportunity to live again, even if they do eventually fall to the rangers, it's a chance. Scorpina deserves that same chance," Finister told her.

"Today you have made an ally, Finister," Goldar said proudly, standing up straight and saluting to show respect to Finister.

"Happy to help, but how will you do this without Rita knowing it was you?"

"I have a plan." he paused. "But I'm going to need you to do something for me."


	10. Chapter X: Kim

**[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 time unknown]**

Jason found himself flat on his back and gold ours dark dimension barely even able to hold a coherent thought in his mind. He was unsure how long she had been lying there surrounded by the smoke on the floor and bleeding out. He was dizzy and disoriented, unable to move and even if he could where would he go? _I'm in space for crying out loud,_ he thought to himself.

He had no idea how to even get out of this room much less all the way back to Earth. Part of him had come to terms with the possibility that this was the end. Or he hoped that as red ranger and leader of the group if he were to fall it would be in the line of duty defending the Earth. But here he was with a sword wound across his chest deeper than any other cut he had ever seen before and he couldn't even manage to move much less think of a means of Escape.

His mind wandered to all the things that could have been. While he had no regrets in his life there was part of them that wished he had opened up to Kimberly sooner. Of everyone in the group he and Kimberly had known one another the longest. Through elementary school then eventually middle school and high school the two of them always had at least two classes together.

Last year during a very emotional time with Jason and his family Jason had decided enough was enough and he was finally going to confess to Kimberly how he felt. The only problem was she had just gotten out of a serious relationship with someone else that had left her emotionally unavailable. He didn't want to swoop in and confess his feelings while she was so emotional out of fear of inadvertently becoming the rebound guy for her. If he was going to pursue something with her it needed to be serious. It needed to be real.

 _Not that it matters now,_ he thought to himself. He had no idea how much longer he had left but his only thought was that Kimberly would never know how he ever felt about her. The Rangers would go on just fine more than likely with Zack as the leader and if need be he was sure Zordon would be able to recruit another red ranger. The Earth would be safe.

Jason close his eyes, making peace with the prospect that that would be the last time he ever did.

It was at that moment that he heard someone or something scary over to him. Based on the pattern of the footprints he imagined it was someone rather short and in bedded in the sound of walking he heard a faint dragging sound. It wasn't the sound of metal scraping across the floor but more flesh being dragged by leading him to believe either goldar had brought another victim or a creature with a tail had approached him.

"Remain still," a voice said.

While he was curious to who it was Jason also knew he was completely at their Mercy as he did not have the energy it would take to defend himself if they meant him harm. He could feel something cold being pressed against him. There was a tingling sensation of some kind that seemed to work its way through his entire body. Laconis subsided and was soon replaced with a warmth and the smell of open flesh began to fill the room. Jason could only suspect that there was a fire of some kind but before he had time to give his fake too much thought the feeling completely subsided and the smell was gone.

"Is that it?" another voice asked.

"Yes, it's all I can do."

"Very well. Go before she suspects you were involved."

Jason was left with more questions that he had answers. The most pressing of his concerns was why he could slowly feel his strength returning to him.

"On your feet, ranger," a voice demanded.

Against his better judgment Jason opened his eyes slowly only to discover that it was almost effortless. He quickly attempted to wiggle his fingers and toes realizing that he had full control over movement again. Almost all at once he hopped to his feet and stood ready looking around. Goldar stood in front of him with his sword in hand.

Not taking his eyes off of Goldar for a moment Jason ran his left hand across his chest to discover the wound had been healed.

"What? How?"

"Our doctor has restored you," Goldar told him.

"Restored me? How? Why?"

"Eltarian Legend speaks of 6 power coins each of them formed inside a collapsing supernova. Each were so powerful that they became sentient," Goldar revealed.

"Sentient? You mean the coins are alive?" he asked.

"Not so much _alive_ than they are _aware._ To wield the power you must be chosen and to have the power taken it must be given freely. 10,000 years ago one of Rita's Warriors defeated the sage that will did the green power coin. His sword and coin were stolen and the sword was dubbed The Sword of Darkness. While the green ranger power is unstable, it can be used for a limited time."

"It's unstable because it wasn't given freely. It was taken," Jason added. "So if the coin is sentient and selects who uses it, why is it allowing a green ranger to use the power for evil?"

"You humans and your limited understanding of the concepts of Good and Evil. The coin is aware of your _inner_ self. The warrior Rita has selected has good within him and that's what the coin senses. It has no knowledge or understanding of the curse controlling him. Power itself is not inherently good or evil, it simply _is_. How that power is used determines what you call Good and Evil."

"So the green ranger? There is good inside of him," Jason mentioned.

"I will never understand like you humans dwell on such primitive concepts, but yes, there is still good within him. In less than six hours the spell Rita has over the Green Ranger will take hold permanently and he will forever be enslaved to her. Only by breaking the Sword of Darkness can the spell be broken," he explained.

"You're _telling_ me Rita's plan? Why?" Jason asked, unsure how to react.

"For a fallen friend," he said, dropping Jason's Morpher. "The next time we meet, red ranger, I will not be as merciful," Goldar said, turning his back to Jason and disappeared into the smoke and darkness.

* * *

 **[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 10:01am]**

In a swirl of energy the black and pink ranger teleported into the command center in full Ranger uniform.

"Power down," Zack called out, and in a whirl of energy, their ranger uniforms disappeared and were replaced by their civilian clothes.

"Any word on Jason?" Trini asked, walking over to them.

"No, but we did run into a group of putties in the park. Any luck with Zordon and A.L.P.H.A.?"

"Billy was able to get him back online and now they are in the lower levels of the command center looking for a device. There is some sort of temporal rupture that is blocking Zordon from getting in touch with our dimension," she explained.

"So we close the rupture and we get Zordon back?"

"Affirmative," Billy said as he walked into the command center holding a small device. "We can seal the rift with anti proton bursts and that will stop whatever is blocking Zordon from reaching us," he turned to Trini. "Have you pinpointed the location of the rupture?"

Trini rushed back over to the controls."it looks like it's in the old carnival area," she said.

"That whole area is sealed off for construction isn't it?" Kimberly asked.

"Yes. At least it will be out of the way and there shouldn't be too much damage."

It was at that moment that there was a swirl of red light as Jason teleported into the command center.

"Jase!" Zack said excitedly, walking over to him and wrapping his arms around him. "What happened to you? And your shirt?"

"It's a long story, but there are more serious things going on. Apparently there is a green ranger," he said.

"What?"

"According to Goldar the green ranger trashed the command center and cut us off from Zordon."

"That would explain how someone was able to get in the command center. He had a power coin, but why would a ranger trash the command center?" Billy asked.

"He is under a spell. If we break his sword we can free him from the spell, but we have less than 6 hours."

"How do we know we can trust Goldar? This could be a trap," Zack pointed out.

Jason shook his head in disagreement. "No, he was telling me the truth," he placed his hand on his chest where his fatal wounds had been. If Goldar truly wanted him eliminated, he had his chance. "I believe him."

"Alright then. How do we even find this guy?" Kimberly asked.

"Ay yi yi yi yi, I believe I can help with that," A.L.P.H.A. Five said as he walked into the command center and over to a control panel. "Observe the viewing globe."

The five of them turned to the viewing globe, where the green ranger was seen in the construction area destroying machinery.

"Remember guys, he's under a spell. Defend yourselves but don't destroy him. If we break the sword, we break the spell," Jason explained.

"Billy, use your device to seal the rift. The rest of us will cover you. You ready guys?" he stood in position. "It's Morphin Time!"

"MASTADON!"

"PTERODACTYL!"

"TRISERATOPS!"

"SABER TOOTHED TIGER!"

"TYRANNOSAURUS!"

In an instant, each of them were transformed into the power rangers. They reached for their belt buckles, and in a swirl of energy, they teleported away.

* * *

 **[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 10:27am]**

Goldar stood in one of the partially finished buildings in the construction area. From his vantage point, he could see everything. With the small vial in hand Finister had given him, he stared down, surveying the area. It was not his intention to be involved in the impending fight, only to observe. He wanted to be there first hand when the rangers defeated the green ranger, breaking the sword and potentially freeing Scorpina.

The team rematerialized in the construction area, getting a good look around. The sun was beginning to set, and the dark was going to make it difficult to see, but at first glance it appeared that the construction site was empty. It amazed him that none of the rangers, not even the green ranger, sensed his presence at all.

"Look what we have here, it's the power rangers. I've been waiting for this moment," the green ranger said as he emerged from behind one of the partially built buildings.

Each of them took a moment to look at the Green Ranger. Over the last 6 months they had grown used to seeing one another in uniform but to see someone else don the ranger outfit was a little disconcerting for them. Especially someone who was willing to use the ranger powers for evil.

"Billy, just seal the rift. We'll handle this guy," Jason said.

With a nod, Billy hurried off. The green ranger took a step closer to them.

"Welcome to your end, rangers," he said.

The device itself was no bigger than a bread box. _Why was the method for determining size and shape ever attributed to bread boxes_ , Billy wondered. As he moved forward, the device would beep, indicating that he was getting closer to it. A quick glance down at the controls noted that this rift was not only generating all sorts of electromagnetic energy, but temporal energy as well. It was the sort of thing that he'd read about in books, or was spoken about in great detail in papers and in lectures, but there he was, tracking this form of energy that shouldn't even have been theoretically possible.

It intrigued him.

The closer he got, the more unusual the readings got. It was as though the rift was slightly out of phase with the space/time continuum. Sometimes the signal was so weak that he didn't think he'd be able to keep a positive lock, and in the next moment, the readings were off the scale. If his readings were accurate, Billy speculated that it wasn't that the rift was gaining or losing intensity, but because the rift was out of sync, it was detecting it at different points in time. _It would be stronger in the future, but weaker in the past_ , he hypothesised. Operating under that assumption, he deduced that the rift had no discernible teather. While it was in a state of flux on this end, on the other, it was probably in a state of _temporal_ flux.

The device began to intensify in beeping, until finally, it would one long, soft hum. Billy glanced around, but there was nothing. Staring down at the machine, he made a slight adjustment, but before he could even glance up, the rift itself appeared directly in front of him.

It wasn't what he was expecting. He wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was definitely unlike anything he had seen before. There seemed to just be a tear in the fabric of time. The inside _appeared_ to be devoid of everything, as if there was an absence of space inside it. There was a sort of electrical hissing as energy seemed to wrap itself around the rift.

Billy immediately reached for his communicator. "A.L.P.H.A, I've located the rift. Attempting anti proton bursts now!" he called out. He aimed the device towards the rift, and a beam of energy shot from it, going directly into the void… but nothing happened.

* * *

It was Zack who rushed at him first with a kick, but the green ranger caught his foot in mid air, giving him a dragon screw takedown that sent Zack flipping into the arm and crashing down to the ground.

The yellow and pink ranger charged at him together, but he slashed the pink ranger across the chest and,after ducking the yellow rangers kick, kicked her in the back.

"POWER AXE!" Zack called out as his weapon appeared in his hand. He went after the green ranger again, this time connecting with several shots to the chest. When he moved in to finish him, the green ranger sliced through the power axe with ease. The pieces began to hum, and the hum got louder and louder. Realizing what was about to happen, the black ranger threw the pieces aside, and they exploded.

"You think you're so tough? Take me on," the red ranger called out.

He went after the green ranger with his sword in hand, but each of them were able to block one another's sword attacks. The green ranger landed a kick that knocked Jason into the side of a building, collapsing it.

Jason stood up,managing to avoid another kick but landed one of his own, knocking the green ranger back up against the size of a bull dozer. Jason swung his sword, but the green ranger moved and the sword went half way through the bulldozer. He tried to pull it out, but it was wedged in too deeply. The green ranger kicked the handle of the sword, snapping it in half, but Jason caught him with a side kick to the knee, knocking the green ranger down to one knee.

Jason tried for a sabat kick, but the green ranger ducked it,caught his foot and pushed Jason back. Jason stumbled back, hitting another building.

The green ranger stood up, and before Jason to regain his footing, the green ranger went for a kick to the face… only,he stopped only inches away from Jason's face.

"Surrender or be destroyed," he warned.

"Never!" Jason shot back.

* * *

"A.L.H.P.A, it isn't working. The proton bursts are having no effect," Billy said into his communicator, but wasn't even sure that his signal got out through all the electrical interference. He tried to think of something, something he was missing. What could he do to seal this rift, he wondered.

"Your device is fine. You're just in the wrong place," a voice said.

Billy turned around as Finister walked up behind him, taking a moment to admire the rift. It was, after all, a scientific impossibility. Finster found it just as intriguing as Billy did, if not more.

"Who are you?" Billy asked.

"A scientist, like yourself," he walked over to the rift, cautiously sticking his hand inside. While it was only in for a moment, when he pulled his hand out, his nails had grown. "This side of the rift is quantum locked as it originated here, it's the other side that is in a state of perpetual flux. It isn't bound to any point in time or space. That's the problem," he explained.

Billy didn't have the time it would take to interrogate this… this _creature_ for more information. Besides, based on his own analysis of the rift, he had concluded the same thing himself. "I'm going to have to…"

Finister nodded. "Yes, it needs to be sealed from the other side. I assume that box you have emits anti proton bursts."

"Yes."

"Then you know it has to be repaired for the other end. And the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be until… the rift is permanently open. There is no telling what horrors will enter this world."

"I have to go in there," Billy stated plainly. There was no time to debate, no time to make a plan. The rift was expanding, and in a matter of moments, the device wouldn't have enough energy to sustain a blast capable of sealing it. Without a second thought, or even much of a first thought, Billy turned the device onto the highest possible setting, closed his eyes, and stepped into the rift.

It began to crackle, to hiss, as if it was conscious and disapproved of Billy's presence. It seemed to get brighter and brighter, but in one brilliant flash of light, the rift disappeared. There was a bit of residual crackling and energy displacement, but the rift was gone.

Finister scoffed, shaking his head with disappointment. "Teenagers. They'll believe anything you tell them," he said, whistling as he walked away with his hands behind his back.

* * *

"Welcome to your end, red ranger," the green ranger snarled.

It was at that moment that it occurred to Kimberly. As she watched Jason do battle with the Green Ranger she felt as though the fighting style was familiar but she couldn't place it. It wasn't until the Green Ranger had Jason pinned against the wall with his foot only inches away from his face that she realized exactly what was going on.

"Tommy?" she called out.

She went to move closer, but Zack grabbed her arm. "You know who this is?" he asked.

"I do," she snatched away, cautiously approaching him. "Tommy you don't have to do this," she said.

The others looked on in confusion as Kimberly continued her approach slowly.

"Stay back, Kim!" Jason warned.

"You heard your leader. Stay back or I will destroy you all," the green ranger snapped.

"No, you won't. No one should feel helpless, Tommy. No one," she sighed.

The green ranger turned his attention away from Jason, putting the sword to Kimberly's throat. The others were going to make a move, but Jason motioned for them to stop.

"I will kill you. I will win this," he warned.

Kimberly powered down instantly, standing in front of him in her civilian clothes, allowing him to get a good look at her. "No you won't. Strength doesn't come from winning. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, _that's_ real strength," she told him.

"Wha…" the green ranger paused, recalling hearing that same phrase during his trial.

He had been so obsessed with power so that he would never fail helpless again that it never occurred to him that the Rangers were actually people. While he wasn't very close to Kimberly, he knew her from school. He'd seen her helping people selflessly and standing up to bullies. He'd seen her in the juice bar working on her gymnastics. He'd seen her helping children in the park.

In his quest for power it didn't matter to him who he hurt but in doing so he realized that he became the bully. Lokar's words began to echo through his mind.

"YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN YOUR FATHER," the voice told him.

"You can beat this, Tommy. I know it. You help people. I've seen you do it. Now let us help you," she sighed.

It was that one instance, that one slight moment of indecision that left him vulnerable. His arm began to tremble. _It could all be over right now. Just push the blade in,_ he thought to himself. But there he was, looking into Kimberly's eyes. She was innocent, pure. It was enough to make him think of his sister, and how innocent she must have looked before someone came along and stole her innocence. He lowered the sword slowly, eventually with the blade touching the ground.

"I…"

Kimberly lifted her foot, stomping down on the blade from an angle. It was enough to break the sword in half. Both the pieces of the sword began to swirl and glow with energy. There was a flash of light and an explosion, and when it finally subsided, it left Tommy on his knees completely unmorphed.

"You destroyed the sword. Rita's spell is broken," Zack said with excitement.

It was Jason who hurried over to Tommy, extending his hand. Tommy accepted it, pulling himself back to his feet.

"You okay Tommy?" he asked cautiously.

"What happened to me?" he replies, holding his head slightly.

"You're no longer under Rita's power," Jason assured him.

"My head… is spinning."

"You'll be okay."

"What have I done?" he asked.

"What you did, you did under Rita's influence. But you own the power now. Fight by our side and together we can defeat Rita," he told him.

The others walked over to them as well in a show of support.

"After everything that's happened?"

"Tommy, we need you," Jason admitted.

Tommy glanced over at the others, and all of them seemed to be nodding in agreement with Jason's statement.

"It's where you belong," he said, extending his hand to Tommy.

It all happened so quickly that none of them realized it until it was too late. The entire team had their eyes on Jason's hand wondering if Tommy would accept it or not. Tommy stared down at the two pieces of the sword, then back at Jason. There was an honesty in his eyes, he meant every word he said. There was no doubt, no question; the offer was sincere.

Kimberly felt a warm sensation in her chest. Was it pride and the idea of having a sixth ranger join them in their battle against evil, she wondered. Was she simply happy that they were able to break the spell over Tommy without harming him, she thought.

She glanced down at her stomach only to reveal the tip of the Sword of Darkness sticking out of her chest as the blood pouring from the open wound stained her shirt. Kimberly fell to her knees, then eventually slumped over to the side.

The others rushed over to her check on her, but Jason knew.

Tommy, with blood on his hands, let out a sickening laugh. "One down, four to go!" he said deviously, disappearing into a stream of white and gold light.

Jason stood there, frozen in a state of shock as the others tended to Kimberly. It was Trini who leaned over her, touching the side of her neck slightly. Jason turned to Trini, hoping to get some confirmation. Trini let out a sigh and a gasp, then glanced over at Jason, shaking her head slightly.

"She's... gone."

* * *

 **[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 unknown time]**

Goldar stormed into Finster's lab, where he was molding clay, preparing to create a new monster for Rita. He rushed over to Finster, interrupting him from his work.

"The rangers have broken the Sword of Darkness. The spell is broken and Scorpina is free," he presented Finister with the vial, which was now filled with what appeared to be white energy. "I know you cannot restore her original body, but revive Scorpina! Give her back to me," Goldar demanded.

Finister stopped what he was doing, taking a moment to examine the vial Goldar had given him. It was warm, almost as if it was generating its own heat. He took an extra moment to look it over, then hurried over to a book which was sitting on a workbench on the other side of the lab. He turned a few pages, stopping at what looked like a hand drawn picture of the vial.

"This isn't her," he said.

"What do you mean? When the sword shattered, it filled up. You said once the sword was broken Scorpina would be free," he reminded him.

"When the sword was broken, every living being who was ever defeated was released, including Scorpina. Whoever this is inside this vial, it isn't Scorpina," Finster told him.

"So if it isn't her… who is it? And where is she?" Goldar asked.


	11. Chapter XI: Jason pt II

**[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 11:09am]**

 _Jason walked into Ernie's Juice Bar with a certain confidence in his step. He'd decided that today was going to be the day._

 _He tried to pinpoint when it started for him, and the best he could come up with was some time in middle school. He and Kimberly Hart had always been friends, and for the length of that friendship, Jason had kept his feelings for her to himself. There was, at one point, about a year ago when he'd found the courage to finally tell her everything. He was going to tell her about the dreams he had about the two of them being together, about the plans he'd made, about the children he wanted to eventually have with her, but he never got the opportunity. On a day much like this one a year ago, he strolled into the Juice Bar ready to tell her everything, only to be introduced to her new boyfriend, David. Jason considered himself a good judge of character, but there was always something about David he didn't like. He assumed it was because he had feelings for Kim; that wouldn't allow him to have a good opinion of this David person, but as time went on it seemed as though his apprehension about David was justified._

 _Kimberly would call him in the middle of the night and they would just lay in bed and talk. She'd tell him how angry or possessive David was being, or how he'd stood her up for a date yet again. Jason couldn't even begin to understand the concept of someone who had the chance to be with a girl like Kimberly Ann Hart would ever mistreat her. Kim was, in essence, the girl next door, though ironically she actually lived about three blocks over from him. She was sweet, down to Earth, fun loving. Maybe a bit too concerned with shopping, but she had a good heart. She always did._

 _The Juice Bar was full of its usual activities. On the far right was a chess club that Billy founded. Chess was never Jason's cup of tea, but once they became power rangers, he found the strategy associated with chess extremely helpful. Sometimes, after the karate class he taught, Billy would sit down with him and explain some of the basic concepts of chess. There was another study group on the opposite end of the bar, all of them studying no doubt for a midterm. He'd tried his best to at least be familiar with everyone in the Juice Bar, but as his free time diminished, that became harder and harder._

 _Ernie himself was behind the counter of the Juice Bar, serving drinks and wiping down his counters. Ernie did his best to provide the students of Angel Grove with a safe haven of sorts. It was the only place in the city where you could come and just hang out. It kept a lot of kids out of trouble, including Jason._

 _Jason turned his attention to the balance beam, where Kimberly was training. For as long as he'd known her, she wanted to be in the olympics. She'd been training for it her entire life, sticking to a strict diet and regular exercise. She was no longer the clumsy little girl she was in middle school. Now, Kimberly was able to gracefully walk across the beam with beauty and precision. She walked to the end of the beam, did a somersault, landing on her feet almost perfectly. She quickly leaned over, grabbing her towel and patting her forehead slightly to remove the sweat._

" _Hey Jase," she said playfully. "Whats up?"_

" _Hey Kim. You got a minute?"_

" _Sure."_

 _She followed him over to the counter at the Juice Bar, where they sat at the first two empty spaces._

" _Hey guys. Can I get you something?" Ernie asked, walking over to them with a notepad and pen in hand._

 _Kimberly attempted to respond, but Jason cut her short. "Give us two orange banana smoothies," he glanced over at Kim. "One with whip cream and a cherry."_

" _You got it," Ernie said cheerfully, walking away._

" _You remembered what kind of smoothie I like. That's sweet," Kim said, placing her hand on his arm gently._

 _For Jason, it wasn't all that impressive. Over the years he'd come to accumulate a wealth of knowledge of the subject of Kimberly Ann Hart. He knew her favorite colors were pink and white, she hated floral patterns and scary movies, but loved romantic comedies. She was allergic to dogs, but had two of them, Sherlock and Watson. Kim was caring and affectionate, but she'd become less affectionate after her breakup with David._

" _Of course I remember. How long have we been friends now?" he asked._

 _She paused to think about it for a moment. "Gosh, I don't know, since like… fifth grade," she mentioned._

 _Fifth grade, Mrs. Hamilton, Angel Grove Elementary School. Kim sat exactly three seats ahead of him and two seats over. Funny how you remember the little things, Jason thought to himself._

" _It's been a long time."_

" _So whats up? What did you want to talk to me about?" Kimberly asked him._

 _This was it for him, the moment of truth. He'd prepared for this moment, dreamt of this moment, and now it was finally here. Jason reached in his pocket, pulling out a small box._

" _Jason?"_

" _JASON?"_

Jason looked up, only to find himself in the construction area of Angel Grove. There was a buzzing sound, a ringing that he couldn't identify. He could barely hear the voices over the sound it was so overwhelming.

"Jason?"

This time, his name was accompanied by a slap across the face from Trini Kwan, which was enough to snap him out of whatever daze he was in. He looked over as Zack, who was holding Kimberly in his arms on the ground a few feet away from him. That's when it hit him.

"Oh no, Kim," he gasped, rushing over to Kimberly's side. Zack had removed his shirt and was trying to apply pressure to the open wound in Kimberly's chest as she struggled to breathe. She coughed, and blood dripped down the face of her face. "We're going to get you some help, Kim."

"I don't think we should move her," Zack mentioned softly.

"I said we're going to get her help!" Jason snapped, almost effortlessly picking Kim up in his arms. "Can we teleport?"

"There's still interference from the rift. We can't," Trini told him.

Jason was numb from head to toe. He felt nothing as worry for Kim consumed him. There was regret for never telling her how he felt, but there was another feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't shake. It was there, rising up inside him. It was a feeling he'd never felt before… rage.

"Tommy did this. If I hadn't trusted him, we…" he was cut short.

"There was no way you could have known, Jason. We broke the Sword of Darkness, the spell over Tommy should have been broken, too. I… I don't know what happened," Zack sighed.

Before Jason could respond, four police cars pulled up on the scene, shining their headlights directly at the group. It was one officer who got out of his car with gun in hand, aiming directly at them.

"Keep your hands where I can see them!" he ordered.

On que, Zack and Trini held their hands up and dropped down to their knees, but Jason didn't move. Not an inch.

"She needs help!" he called out.

The officer reached for the radio that rested on his right shoulder. "We're going to need an ambulance out to the old fair grounds immediately."

" _Roger. Medical in route."_

"What the hell happened here?" the officer asked.

Several other officers hurried over to the scene, handcuffing both Zack and Trini, escorting them over to their cars.

"There was an attack… my friend was hurt. We have to help her!" Jason cried.

He didn't realize how much he'd been crying on how distressed his voice was until he heard it for himself, but it was of no concern to him. Right now, the only thing he wanted was for Kim to get the help she needed.

"Did you do this?"

"Wh-What? No!" he said emphatically.

"EMTs will be here in a moment, we'll get her the help she needs. But you gotta level with me kid, who stabbed her?"

He couldn't very well tell him the truth. Somehow telling this officer that the broke the evil spell of a sorresses over a teenager with an sword that trapped souls inside it wasn't going to go over very well. So, he told him as much of the truth as he could.

"A monster," he sighed.

Monster sighting weren't that unfamiliar in Angel Grove. At least a couple of times a week there was some sort of attack on the city. While they did their best to minimize the damage, sometimes people got hurt. It wasn't too uncommon, and it made complete sense.

"Where is it now?"

"The power rangers stopped it," Jason told him.

Seconds later, an ambulance pulled up, and EMTs rushed over to Kim with a stretcher in tow. One of the EMTS gently took Kimberly from Jason's arms, laying her down on her side gently.

"Looks like the knife missed all the major organs and arteries, but she's in shock and she's lost a lot of blood. We have to get her to the hospital stat," the EMT told him.

The officer nodded as they carried Kimberly away, then turned his attention to Jason, cuffing his arms behind his back.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to need you and your friends to come down to the station and answer some questions. When this is all over, your parents will be able to come get you. Don't worry, kid, if you haven't done anything wrong we'll have all this settled and you'll be back home before you know it," the officer informed him.

Jason could have fought back. He could have easily taken out the officer and even the others who were driving away with Zack and Trini in the backseat, but he knew that wouldn't accomplish anything. The best thing to do was to just play along and let the situation sort itself out.

"Yes officer," Jason mumbled.


	12. Chapter XII: A wolf in ranger's clothing

**[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 11:16am]**

In a swirl of green and white energy, Tommy appeared in the Moon Palace with a piece of the broken Sword of Darkness in each hand. His left hand, however, was covered with the blood of the pink ranger. It was Squatt and baboo who rushed over to him excitedly.

"You did it! You did it!" Baboo bellowed, jumping up and down with excitement.

"That's one less power brat we'll have to worry about. Once we fix the sword, you can go after the others," Squatt added.

"I think we should…"

"Shut up," Tommy snapped at them. All of once, the two of them stopped talking. "Where is the mole rat?"

"You mean Finister?"

"He's in his lab," Baboo told him.

Tommy, without another word, turned and walked away. The Moon Palace was a tall building, but inside wasn't really that big. A lot of it was badly damaged and there was no access to it, but there were parts that were easily accessible. Tommy headed down the hall and quick right, where Finster was in his lab working on a clay sculpture of some kind.

"Empress Rita has been looking for you. She no doubt wants to congratulate you on your victory against the power rangers and discuss the next…" Finster paused, getting a good look at Tommy as he stood there. He wasn't sure, but there was something strange about him, something off. Maybe it was his posture, or maybe it was the effects of the spell being broken. Either way, Finster was well aware something wasn't right. "What is it you need?"

"Where is it? Where is the Gallifreyan Chamber?" Tommy asked.

"Its right over…" he paused again, this time taking an even closer look at Tommy. It struck Finster as odd that Tommy would have any knowledge of the official name of the dumpster that had trapped them for so long. It wasn't as though it was common knowledge. In fact, only a handful of warriors were aware of the origins of the dumpster. "How do you know about that?"

"You want to end up like that pink ranger? Or do you want to give me what I came for?"

Finister was by no means a warrior of any kind. His expertise was creating, not destroying. If Tommy wanted to end his life, he would have no problem doing so, and Finister wouldn't be able to put up a fight of any kind. But that didn't mean he was going to make it easy for him.

"Who are you?"

"I am the green ranger," Tommy said coldly.

Finister took one final look at him. "No, who are you _really_?" he asked.

Tommy couldn't help but crack a half smile. "I always liked you, rat. You're full of spunk. I respect that. Hand over the chamber and repair my sword, and you will be allowed to live."

"I can't."

Tommy rushed over to him, grabbing him by the throat and shoving Finister up against the wall of his lab, causing several of his experiments to fall to the floor. Tommy squeezed just hard enough to let Finister know he was serious, but enough that he would be able to communicate.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"Knasty Knight named it the Sword of Darkness after he defeated the original green ranger, but it was originally the Sword of Light, forged in the heart of a collapsing star. Only someone true of heart can repair the sword, and if you haven't noticed, no one around here fits that description," Finister explained.

"You better find a way, or I will spill your blood across half the galaxy," he snapped at him.

"You very well could do that, but it doesn't change the fact that it cannot be done."

There was a momentary pause, but eventually, Tommy released Finister, dropping him to the floor. "You better not be lying to me, mole rat," he said.

"I have no stake in this war. Why would I…" he stopped. That was the _second time_ Tommy had referred to him as a mole rat. It wasn't a common insult, and when Finister realized where he'd heard it before, he knew exactly what was going on. "I know who you are."

"I am the green ranger," Tommy repeated proudly.

"No, you're wearing him like a suit of flesh. I know who you _really_ are," Finister said, standing to him feet.

Tommy, enraged that Finister may actually know the truth, grabbed him and threw him across the room. Finister collided with the monster matic machine, then slid unconscious to the floor. A quick glance around the lab and Tommy found the chamber on the bottom shelf of one of the work stations.

"Yes, this will do just nicely," he sighed.


	13. Chapter XIII: Zack pt I

**[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 1:01pm]**

Zack found himself sitting in a completely empty room in front of a table. The only light was the one that hung overhead, making it difficult for him to see anything else in the room. It could have been a huge room, or it could have been very small, but with such poor lighting it was difficult to tell. The only thing he could make out was a mirror on the opposite side of the room, which Zack had seen enough crime dramas on television to know it was two way glass, and a handheld video camera was set up on a tripod a few feet from him. Judging by the red light that occasionally flashed, he concluded it was recording.

While he wasn't sure how long he'd been in there, he knew it was longer than he wanted to be. There were other things happening, more important things, and he _had_ to get out of there. Images of Kimberly laying there in the dirt covered in her own blood haunted him. Being a power ranger, having access to power beyond his wildest dreams gave him the false impression that they were indestructible. The suits granted them power, and even unmorphed, he felt strong. It never occurred to him that any of them would fall to something as small as a stab wound.

What did this mean for the group, he wondered. With Kimberly gone, he'd lost a teammate and a friend. They were a ranger short, but the job wasn't done. Rita was still trying to take over the Earth, and even though none of them would openly say it, her monsters were getting harder and harder to defeat. It was only a matter of time before Rita launched an attack they wouldn't be able to stop, and with one ranger down, it would be even more difficult to finally defeat her.

His thoughts were broken as he heard a door open, and he noticed the figure of someone walking into the room. As they came closer, Zack realized it was someone in the military, but he didn't recognize the uniform. The soldier officer with a vanilla folder in his hand. He placed the folder on the table and opened it, reviewing the contents.

"Taylor, Zachary T, born September 16th, 1976. That makes you what? 17? A junior at Angel Grove High School?"

"Yes, sir,"

"You're in a lot of trouble, you know that, Zachary?"

"What? How?"

"You were found on the scene of an attempted murder, which was also private property. There was over $100,000 in property damage done to the construction site, and Kimberly Hart is laying in a hospital in critical condition," he told him.

Zack let out a sigh of relief. "She's alright? I thought she was…"

"Weren't you listening? She's in critical condition. The weapon used to stab her through the chest hasn't been recovered, but she's lucky it was only a few inches away from her heart. Three inches to the left and she would have been dead instantly. Your friends say it was some sort of monster attack, but we didn't find any evidence of that. You and your friends are suspects, and seeing as how you are covered in blood, which I'm sure forensics will determine is Kimberly Hart's blood, that makes you the prime suspect," he explained.

"I… I was only trying to help her. She's my friend," he sighed.

"What were the four of you doing there? That construction site is off limits and the property manager is ready to press charges on all three of you. A lot of his work was destroyed and you've set his timetable back by 6 months. You and your friends are in a world of trouble right now. The last thing you need to do is lie to me. Tell me the truth and I may be able to help you out of this," he said.

Four, Zack thought to himself, quickly realizing that Billy wasn't near them when the police arrived. He was no doubt doing whatever it took to seal the rupture, but the fact that the officers didn't know anything about it meant he'd gotten away…

… or there was problem.

"I already told you the truth. There was some sort of monster attack. The power rangers were there and stopped him, then they left."

"Why were you there?"

"We were just looking for a place to hide. There was a monster on the loose and we wanted to stay out of the way," Zack said.

"Your story doesn't add up, Taylor," he stared Zack up and down. "I couldn't help but notice you're wearing all black. Are you in some sort of gang, Taylor?"

"What? No!"

"There have been rumors of some kind of underground fight club taking place in that area in the evenings, but we haven't been able to catch anyone there until now. I looked you up. You're famous for a form of martial arts you created yourself. What's it called?"

"Hip Hop Kido," he said quietly, almost as if he was embarrassed.

"So you're a known martial artists found on the scene of a known underground fighting ring where a cheerleader was stabbed in the chest. This doesn't look good for you, Taylor. Help me help you, Zackery. You're not walking out of this place until you give me the truth," the soldier told him.

"I didn't do anything wrong, none of us. I _did_ tell you the truth, now let me go," Zack insisted.

"Go? The only place you're going is jail. I wouldn't be surprised if…" he was cut short as the door opened again, and another soldier stepped into the room. Behind him were two men in suits and one young lady in a lab coat and glasses.

"Lieutenant, a word?"

The soldier stood up, heading over to the door. Zack couldn't overhear the conversation, but from what he could hear, it didn't sound good at all. He'd told as much of the truth as he could, but if he was ever going to find Tommy and make him pay for what he did to Kimberly, he had to get out of that room.

A few moments later, the first soldier exited the room, and the man walked over to Zack. "Mr. Taylor, may I see your see your hands?" he asked.

Zack lifted his hands out of his lap, revealing he was still handcuffed. The soldier quickly uncuffed him as he sat down. "Is that better?"

"Yes, sir," he said, rubbing his wrists slightly.

The soldier walked over to the video camera, turning it off and spinning it around to face the wall, then sat down in the empty chair across from him.

"Zackery, my name is Commander William Mitchell. You thirsty?" he asked.

"Yes, sir."

The commander motioned towards the mirror, and within moments, a police officer hurried into the room, presenting Zack with a glass of water. Zack quickly took a few sips, then set it down on the table.

"I've seen your file, you're a good kid, Zack. We know you didn't do this, but it doesn't change the fact that one of your friends is laying in a hospital fighting for her life. If you know anything about it, you need to tell me now so we can get the son of a bitch who did it," he said.

It wasn't the sort of thing that the police could handle, and Zack knew that. The Angel Grove police department was no match for Rita Rupulsa and her monsters, and even if they were, he was determined that _he_ would be the one to track Tommy down and make sure justice was served.

"I told the other officer everything I know, sir. Honestly," he said.

Commander Mitchell lifted up a small bag, putting it on the table. He reached in, pulling out Zack's morpher, placing it on the table in front of him.

"Can you tell me what this is?" he asked.

"Its nothing. Just a toy."

"Seems both your friends had one as well, but they were slightly different. What does it do?"

"Nothing until you take it home and connect it to the other part. Like Magic the Gathering," he explained.

"Can you show me how to play?"

"I can't, not without all the cards. I left them at home," he said.

"I see," he let out a sigh. "I have no reason to hold you here, but I can't release you until your parents come for you. We tried contacting your mother but she was unavailable," he said.

"My mom works alot. It's just me, her and my brothers."

"And your father?"

Zack put his head down slightly. "I never met him."

"I understand," he paused. "I'm going to return your belongings to you and release you, but if you come across any information I expect you to contact me immediately. You understand?" he asked, reaching in his pocket, producing a card and handing it to Zack.

"Yes sir," he responded, accepting the card and slipping it into his back pocket.

Zack stood up, extending his hand to him. The two of them shook firmly, and Zack gathered his belongings, walking out of the room. As he left, the men in suits and woman in the lab coat stepped into the room, standing in front of Commander Mitchell.

"Were you able to confirm it?"

"Nothing conclusive, but I'm sure his DNA sample will confirm what we already suspect," he said.

The young woman slid a pair of rubber gloves on each of her hands before picking the cup up, placing it in a plastic bag, sealing it. "I'll get this to the lab ASAP," she told him.

"Should I have him followed?" another one of the men asked.

"No, if they really are power rangers, they won't be hard to find," he assured him. "Besides, not only did I put a nano tracker in the water he drank, I'm going to take one of his friends back to base for further questioning."

"I notice you didn't tell him about his father."

"One thing at a time, doctor. There are bigger fish to fry," he reminded her.

"As you wish, commander."


	14. Chapter XIV: Goldar pt II

**[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 1:30pm]**

In a swirl of green and white energy, Tommy teleported into the Moon Palace. With the Gallifreyan chamber was tucked under his arm as the energy and smoke dissipated, and Tommy glanced around, looking for Rita. The Empress wasn't known for leaving the chamber very often, so it was a bit surprising that as Tommy glanced over at her throne, it was empty.

"Come out, come out wherever you are, _my empress_ ," Tommy called out rhythmically as began his search for her.

A quick glance around the room indicated that not only was the main chamber of the Palace empty, but it had been for hours. Maybe even more importantly, Tommy noted, her staff was leaning up against the side of her throne, meaning that wherever she was, she was unarmed. He headed towards the throne, reaching and for the staff, but before he could, there was a burst of energy connecting with his chest. The impact was enough to launch Tommy across the room and up against the wall. On impact, Tommy dropped the Gallifreyan chamber. It hit the floor, then rolled a few feet before finally, it lost it's momentum and it stopped a few feet away from Rita's throne.

"So what was your plan here, Scorpina?" a voice echoed through the chamber. "Hijack my green ranger's body and lock me back in that… that thing? Have you any idea the forces you are meddling with?"

Tommy got back to his feet, dusting himself off. "I know exactly what I'm doing, empress," he said in a condescending tone. "I'm going to dispose of you, then do what you have failed to do for over 10 millennia; destroy Zordon, crush the Power Rangers and reign over the galaxy like an empress should," he said coldly.

Rita's response was a bellowing laugh that echoed through the entire Moon Palace. "Really? You? You were defeated by a teenager, and yet you have the nerve to challenge me?!"

Before Tommy realized what was happening, Rita appeared in front of him in a flash of light, and Rita grabbed him by the throat, lifting him almost effortlessly with one hand. As Tommy gasped for breath, clutching to Rita's wrist in an attempt to free himself, Rita reached out with her right hand towards her throne.

Her staff began to tremble slightly, and then, as if he was were drawn to her, whooshed towards her. She caught it, and the jewel that rested within the staff began to glow. "When I am finished with you, the Trials of Lokar will feel like a Tarkelian mud bath. No one betrays Rita Repulsa and lives to tell about it," she snarled at him.

"I died once…" Tommy, still in mid air, swung both of his feet forward, kicking Rita in the chest. It was just what he needed to force Rita to release him. He fell to the floor, making it back to his feet as he caught his breath. "It didn't take," he told her.

She swung her staff at him, but he ducked, as before Rita's momentum allowed to her stop the swing, Tommy caught her with a kick to the stomach. She doubled over in pain, and as Rita tried to lift her staff, Tommy stepped on it, keeping his weight on it to prevent her from using it.

"You misunderstand me, Scorpina. What I have planned for you will have you _begging_ me to kill you," she said.

"We'll see…" Tommy took a step back, then reached behind his back for his morpher. "It's Morpin' Time," he called out to transform into the green ranger.

… but nothing happened.

He tried again. "It's Morphin Time," he said again, this time with more emphasis, but with the same result. "What the fu…" he was interrupted.

"You buffoon. The power coin _chose_ Tommy. It will only work for who it chose, and somehow possessing his body isn't enough to fool it. It knows what I know… you're _not_ the green ranger," she told him with a half smile, purposely mocking him. "This is over, Scorpina. Accept your fate and I will granted you a swift death."

Frustrated, Tommy threw the morpher down, reaching behind his back again to reveal two daggers, each of them with crooked, serrated blades. "Guess I'll stick with what I know then," he said, rushing towards her.

Tommy was within inches of Rita, swinging both the daggers at her, but from out of nowhere they were blocked by another sword. Tommy glanced to his left only to see Goldar standing between them. "I knew you weren't to be trusted, human," he growled, just before kicking Tommy in the chest.

The impact knocked him back, but before he could regain his composure, Goldar lunged at him with his sword.

"Wait!" Tommy called out, managing to avoid the blade, but only by a few inches. He moved aside, and continued to back up. "Goldie, baby, its me," he said.

Goldar swung again, this time with the intention to finish off Tommy once and for all. The sword was only inches away from Tommy's face when his face when his words finally registered with Goldar. "Wh…" he paused. "Scorpina?"

"Yes baby, it's me. This pathetic ranger killed me during the trails, but it wasn't because I was defeated. I had a plan. I knew that being defeated in the trials would trap my essence in the sword itself, and I knew the rangers would eventually figure out that breaking the sword would break the spell. And when they did, my essence was transferred into this body," he explained.

"What are you waiting for, you big gold nitwit? Destroy her!" Rita demanded.

"I have the chamber, my love. We can trap this windbag in the chamber and rule this galaxy. No more demoralizing warriors that we have served with. No more idiotic plans to take over Earth. To hell with Earth, to hell with this sector. We'll to go to the Eltarian space and one by one destroy the sages. Even Dark Spector himself will bend to our will," he told him.

"Why are you listening to this? Kill her. Now!" she screamed.

Goldar, sword in hand, stood up straight, lowering his sword. "What is your plan?" he asked.

Rita was enraged. "What? You work for _me_ you idiot, not her. Stay in your place, return to my side and I will overlook your incompetence. Destroy her!" Rita ordered.

Tommy continued as if Rita wasn't even there. "First, we have to get me out of this body, and the only way to do that is to convince one of those do gooders to do it. Then, my original form can be restored," he explained.

"And then?"

"We'll force Finister to revive all of our friends, all of our brothers and sisters in arms; everyone who served with us on the battlefield in the 4th Eltarian Wars. Only this time, we won't disrespect our fallen brethren. Together, we will reign supreme. Think of it; why be an empress when we will be worshipped as if we were Celestials."

The look on Goldar's face remained stoic; never changing, never wavering, but Tommy could tell he was listening.

"What has this washed up sorcerer ever done for you? Insult you? Belittle you? Because of her incompetence, you ended up trapped in a… a _dumpster_ for over 10,000 years. You were struck down in your prime, my love. I'm not offering you some hollow title like _empress_ or _lord_. Together, we will rule this galaxy. But first, we have to dispose of this witch."

"Obey me Goldar. Obey me, or you will suffer the same fate as her when I am done with you. No one betrays me, Goldar. NO ONE!" Rita warned him.

"Your threats are empty. You're nothing," Tommy shot back. "Stay with me, my love, and together we will…" Tommy was interrupted as Goldar lunged back, and with all his might, buried his sword into Tommy's stomach.

Tommy glanced down at the wound as blood seemed to pour like Triforian wine. He felt light headed, confused. "Goldar… why?"

"I am loyal to my empress," he paused. "Just as you should have been."

Rita, with an arrogant and confident smile on her face, approached Tommy with her staff in hand. "Ab hoc vas, et restituere ipsius essentia. Ego autem demend!" she uttered in a language Goldar didn't recognize. The jewel in her staff began to glow, and within seconds, the light worked its way through Rita's body. As Goldar removed the sword from the open wound, Rita reached inside with her bare hand. Tommy howled in pain, but Rita paid it no mind as she pulled her hand back, revealing she had what appeared to be Scorpina's essence by the throat. It was obviously Scorpina, but she was transparent, incorporeal.

Tommy's body collapsed to the floor as Rita stood over him, holding Scorpina by the throat. "And now, my dear Scorpina, prepare for oblivion," Rita warned. "haec dicit damnationem nihil est laeta paupertas!"

As the jewel in her staff began to glow a sinister red glow, Goldar grabbed Rita by the wrist.

"Wait!" he demanded.

"What?" she groaned as her eyes began to glow as well.

"I have been loyal to you for countless centuries, my empress, and in that time I have never made a personal request. I have one now. Spare Scorpina's life," he asked.

"I have no intention of killing her. What I have in store is much worse."

"No. You will grant mercy. The warrior's code dictates that…" he was interrupted.

"I have no interest in your codes. This is vengeance. This is vindication," Rita responded.

"You may have no sense of honor, but I wonder how Lord Zedd would feel about that," Goldar mentioned.

In that exact moment, the red glow that had all but filled the entire palace began to dim, until finally, it was all but gone. Rita sighed with frustration, but finally released Scorpina from her grip. "I… I didn't realize you were in contact with Zedd," she mentioned.

While he would never say anything to her, he heard the apprehension in her voice. "I am, and our Lord would not be pleased to hear that one of his favorite warriors had perished by your hands. The only thing I pity more than the person who has to tell him is the power who committed the act itself," he added.

"So what do you suggest we do with her?"

"We will trick one of Zordon's puppets to restore the Sword of Darkness, then use it restore her body. Then, she will leave this system and promise never to return. You will never see her again," he said.

"Why would I ever trust her?"

"You don't have to. Trust me," Goldar said.

Rita lowered her staff, standing down. "Very well, but I demand something in exchange," she brought up.

"Name it, my empress, and it will be done."

"I will spare Scorpina's life in exchange for her undying loyalty. I will accept nothing less than complete servitude."

Scorpina laughed. "You'll have to kill me witch, I will never…"

"She accepts your offer," Goldar said, speaking for her.

"I will never accept…"

"You will. You have been bested in battle, the warrior's code demands to be satisfied. Your life belongs to Empress Rita, and you _will_ honor the code, or I will destroy you myself," he warned.

"As you wish," Scorpina turned to Rita, bowing to one knee. "I will serve you, my empress," she said.

"Oh I know you will," Rita mocked.

"And what should we do with him?" Goldar asked, turning his attention to Tommy's body, which was lifeless on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"This isn't my green ranger, this is a sack of useless human flesh. His essence is gone. I have no use for it any further," she said, waving her staff. Tommy's body disappeared in a stream of green and white energy, leaving only the stains of blood. "Now, where is the Sword of Darkness?"

"I have it, my empress," the disembodied Scorpina told her.

"Very good. It won't take much to convince one of the power brats to repair it, and when they do, they will all be destroyed!" Rita proclaimed. "Now, out of my sight. Both of you idiots have given me a headache," she said, walking over to her throne, sitting down.

"As you wish," Goldar said as both he and Scorpina disappeared in a crackle of golden energy.


	15. Chapter XV: Trini pt II

**[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 1:27pm]**

Trini's arms were being held behind her back by, from what she could tell, was a plastic zip tie of some kind. Despite the fact that men in suits had grabbed her from the police station, blindfolded her and were now transporting her somewhere in the back of what she assumed was a van or truck, she was well aware of where she was. The cloth over her eyes was meant to hinder her vision, but it all it had done was allow her to focus on other things to ascertain where she was.

When the vehicle made a left or right, she was able to judge the momentum and the way her body shifted, and from that, it allowed Trini to know where she was. The vehicle made a left, which she deduced placed her on 39th street. And if her suspicions were correct, they were headed towards the freeway, which meant their destination was not in Angel Grove. While she knew her city well, every twist and turn, Trini knew that once they were on the freeway, she would have no way of knowing where they were going.

She knew she was going to have to get her information another way.

"Where are you taking me?" she called out, reasonably sure someone was sitting in the back of the vehicle with her.

"You'll know when we get there," a voice said.

Trini was able to determine it was a male voice, more than likely in his early thirties, and occasional drinker, and judging by the raspiness in his voice, he was a heavy smoker.

"I'm a minor, you know. I'm 16 and this is against the law. When my parents find out what you've done, you're going to be in big trouble," she warned them.

Her warnings were met with chuckles of amusement. "Just sit back and relax, we'll be there soon enough and all your questions will be answered," another voice said.

The second voice belonged to another man, this one in his late forties. He wasn't a drinker or a smoker, but the tone in his voice indicated that he'd seen conflict of some kind. _Maybe he served in the war,_ she thought to herself.

There was the faint smell of leather, shoe polish and gun powder, which led Trini to believe she was dealing with the military. During her interrogation at the police station, she'd noticed a group of military men in the station, but the men in the back of the vehicle with her were not the men she'd seen earlier. Soldier's footsteps made a certain sound as they walked, but these men did not make that sound. In fact, it sounded more like dress shoes walking across pavement, and even more so, one of the men had a nervous condition as he continued to tap his right foot. The sound indicated to her that she was in the back of a van.

The entire time they had been traveling, Trini had been working on releasing herself from the restraints that held her hands. Every time the truck hit a bump or made a sharp turn, she used that opportunity to chip away at the restraints. There was no need to rush as they were still going at pretty high speeds on the expressway, it wasn't as though she would be able to safely jump from a car moving at that speed. Besides, even if she could safely escape, the men had taken her morpher. She doubted there would be enough time to break free, subdue both men, find her morpher then break out. And even if she could, it would reveal her secret identity. _Oh look, that little asian girl disappeared from the back of the van, but now the yellow ranger is here. What a coincidence,_ she thought to herself. So, it wasn't as though Trini couldn't break free, it was a question of if it was the wisest move.

The vehicle hit a bump of some kind, and suddenly, it felt different. They were no longer on a road made of concrete. The surface was slimmer, smoother. There were no imperfections at all. _A ramp,_ she speculated. It was also obvious that the vehicle was now going downwards, as if they were driving down a hill, but the speed had been decreased significantly.

Finally, the van came to a stop, and two people got out of the front. Trini could hear very plainly two doors opening, two people stepping out and both doors closing a few seconds apart. There was some faint conversation outside the van, but she couldn't make it out. She did notice, however, that the two men who were sitting in the back with her were not armed. If they had been, stood to reason they would have grabbed their weapons and stood ready when they arrived, but there was nothing from them.

She could hear movement outside the van, someone was approaching the back of the vehicle. Trini knew it was now or never. She'd already freed her hands, but chosen not to reveal that fact to her captures.

 _When the doors open, fight your way out of here and try to a hold of your morpher. If Zordon is back, they will be able to teleport me out once I get out of sight,_ she told herself, but knew finding her morpher was going to be easier said than done.

"On your feet," the first man said, grabbing Trini by the arm and helping her up. Trini interlocked her fingers together and held the remains of her restraints in the palm of her hand as to not alert them she was free. The doors opened, and the two men assisted Trini is stepping out and onto the ground. Someone grabbed her blindfold from the back and snatched it off, allowing Trini to get a look around. It took a moment from her eyes to focus from the extreme darkness to light, but once they did, she glanced around the room.

It appeared to be a docking bay of some kind. There were a few other vans in the bay as well, all of them with a blue and yellow symbol on the side. The emblem seemed to match the emblem on the uniforms she saw on the men, and on one young lady who approached her wearing a lab coat and a clipboard in hand.

"Trini Kwan?" the young woman asked.

Trini remained silent.

The woman turned to her clipboard. "Trini Kwan, oldest daughter of Quyen Kwan and Trinh Nguyen. Born December 14th, 1977 in Biên Hòa, Vietnam. Came here with your parents and younger brothers in 1982 and settled in Angel Grove, California. We know all about you, Trini," the woman said.

Trini was a bit taken back by the amount of information these people had, but even so, it was all common knowledge. Her family wasn't the only one to come over from Biên Hòa, and a quick look at her school records would have given them most of that information.

"You don't know anything about me," she responded.

"We knew that almost seven months ago you came into contact with an extraterrestrial being named Zordon, and you were given the yellow power coin. You have been fighting a witch named Rita Repulsa with your friends since then," she said.

That was more than enough to impress Trini. "But how did…"

"Its our job to know what's going on, Trini. We are not your enemy, and we're here to help you. If you would please come with us, our commander will explain everything to you."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Angela Fairweather," the woman said cheerfully.


	16. Chapter XVI: Zack pt II

**[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 1:25pm]**

Jason and Zack had been leaning up against a tall oak tree directly across the street from the Angel Grove Police Department, waiting for the authorities to finish with Zack and release him.

There were a million different things swarming through Jason's mind, but he found that he was preoccupied with Kimberly's condition. One of the officers mentioned to him that Kim was in critical condition, but that's all he really knew. What did _critical_ actually mean? Was she fighting for her life as doctors scrambled to operate on her, or was she resting peacefully in her hospital bed still unconscious and unaware of what happened to her? Or worse, does she know _who_ did this to her? After everything they'd done to try to break Tommy free of the spell Rita placed him under, the moment they did and the spell was broken…

 _Maybe the spell wasn't broken. Maybe there's still a chance to save Tommy_ , he thought to himself, but found himself immediately dismiss the thought. Whether Tommy was under a spell or not, Kim was one of them, and his priority had to be _her. The team comes first,_ he reminded himself.

But now knowing more about the nature of the power coins, knowing that each ranger has to be chosen by the coin itself, he wondered why the green power coin would select someone like Tommy in the first place? Why would the coin willingly serve evil? It didn't make sense to him.

"Hm," Zack grumbled to herself as she folded his arms, leaning back and putting his foot on the tree behind him.

"What is it?" Jason asked, turning his attention to Zack.

Zack motioned towards the police station, where two black vans pulled up in front of it. A group of men in suits got out the back, and within a few seconds, two more men were escorting Trini out of the station. It was obvious that she had been blindfolded, and based on her hands behind her back and there seemed to be a struggle, Zack put together that she must have been handcuffed.

"Where are they taking her?"

"I don't know, but I know that Trini can take care of herself. Right now we need to get back to the Command Center and find out what's going on with Zordon, find Billy and figure out what's going on with Kimberly. Then, we can go after Tommy," Jason said coldly.

"I'm not saying that we shouldn't find Billy or that we shouldn't be worried about Kim, but they're taking Trini away. We need to follow her, find out what's happening," he mentioned, standing up straight and started towards the station.

"And how will do you it, Zack? You're going to morph and then go over there demanding they release Trini? You'll blow our cover," he brought up. He paused, expecting some sort of response from Zack, but Jason turned around only to discover that Zack was gone. He turned back around, facing the police station, and saw Zack climbing onto the top of the van they'd placed Trini in.

Before Jason could make a move, the van was pulling away, and there was nothing he could do.

"Damn it," he groaned to himself. He knew contacting Zack on his communicator would only alert them to Zack's presence, so that was out. He didn't have time to worry about, Zack could handle himself. Instead, he reached for his communicator. "A.L.P.H.A., this is Jason. Do you read me?"

For a moment, there was static, then nothing.

"Zordon, do you read me?" he called out.

" _Ay yi yi yi yi. Jason, can you hear me?"_ a voice answered.

"Loud and clear, A.L.P.H.A, whats going on?"

" _You and the other rangers should teleport to the Command Center at once."_

Jason didn't know how to tell A.L.P.H.A. he was the last one left, and decided that was a conversation best had in person. "I'm on my way," he said. He made sure no one was around, then tapped a button on his communicator, disappearing into a stream of red and white light.

Jason rematerialized in the Command Center a few moments later, where A.L.P.H.A. Five was scrambling, working on critical systems.

"Ay yi yi yi yi, I'm so glad to see you, Jason. Where are the others?" he asked.

"Kimberly is in the hospital, Trini has been taken by some government agency, Zack went after her and I haven't seen Billy since last night. I was hoping you could tell me something," Jason mentioned.

Just then, one of the panels began to beep, followed by a humming sound as if the equipment was warming up. Finally, it settled in, and Zordon appeared in his tube.

"Good work, A.L.P.H.A." he announced.

"It's good to see you again, Zordon," A.L.P.H.A. told him.

Zordon glanced around, realizing only Jason was there. "Jason, where are the other rangers?" he asked.

"I… I don't know. Kimberly is fighting for her life in the hospital. Trini has been kidnapped and we have no idea where Billy is," he said.

"Kimberly is in the hospital? What has happened?"

"We broke the Sword of Darkness and it was suppose to free Tommy, but instead he stabbed her in the stomach and teleported away. It didn't work. The police came and arrested us, we've been in police custody all night. When they let us go, they took Trini somewhere else. Zack is tracking her," he explained.

"I'm afraid my fears have come to pass," he paused. "When the green ranger damaged the Command Center, he inadvertently caused a rupture in space/time. It was that rift that prevented me from maintaining my connection to this point in time. Now that the rift has been sealed, I am free to return, but I fear that the rift would have had to have been sealed from the other side," Zordon said.

"So you mean that…"

"Yes, Billy traveled through the rift to seal it. He could be anywhere, at any time," he told him.

"So what do we do? How do we get him back?" Jason asked.

"I can try scanning from his bio-chemical field, but it will take time. Time and resources. The Command Center is still running on emergency power, and there is no way to tell how long before main power is back online," A.L.P.H.A. brought up.

"So you're saying that we can't even look for Billy?"

"To do so would drain the little power we have, and it would run the risk of us losing our connection to Zordon again. We can't risk it," he said.

"So Billy is just… gone?" Jason asked.

"I understand your frustration, Jason, but we have concerns that require our immediate attention. With Kimberly hurt, Billy missing and Trini being held against her will, there is no one protecting Angel Grove. If Rita were to…" he was interrupted.

"Rita has been awful quiet during all this. If we're having some issues, maybe she is, too," Jason mentioned.

"What do you mean?"

"If this rift was as powerful as you say it was, maybe it's messing with Rita's magic, too. Maybe it did something to Tommy. Maybe it _made_ him hurt Kimberly," he paused. "It doesn't matter. He'll pay for what he did."

"If Tommy was under the influence of something, he cannot be held accountable for his actions. Until we find out, it would be prudent of us to…" he was cut short as one of the panels began to beep. A.L.P.H.A. hurried over to it, seemingly amazed at what he saw.

"Quick, the viewing globe," he said.

Jason hurried over to the viewing globe, where there was an image of Tommy lying outside the Command Center covered in blood.

"What the…"

"Its Tommy. He's hurt," A.L.P.H.A. said.

"This could be another one of Rita's tricks. It's a trap, I know it," Jason said coldly.

"According to my readings, Tommy has lost a lot of blood and he is not even conscious. I do not think this is a deception," Zordon pointed out.

"Can we teleport him into the Command Center?"

"No. In his injured state it may be too much for him. Jason, you must teleport out there and bring him back inside. Once he is inside, we can tend to his wounds," he said.

Nothing would have given Jason greater pleasure than to live Tommy out there to bleed out, eventually passing away from his injuries. After watching Tommy stab Kimberly without mercy, saving Tommy's life wasn't on Jason's list of priorities, but…

"He's a victim of Rita's magic," Jason sighed.

"If we determine that Tommy was indeed responsible for his own actions, then we will address it when truth comes to light. Until then, he is a civilian, and he needs our help," Zordon told him.

"I'll go get him, but be prepared to restrain him while we treat his wounds. And if I find that he knew what he was doing when he hurt Kim, somebody better be prepared to restrain me," he warned, reaching for his communicator and teleporting away in a stream of red and white light.


	17. Chapter XVII: Os Infernum

**[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 2:07pm]**

"The AquaBase is a state of the art facility that began construction a little over two years ago. Our primary goal is to offer assistance to the people of Marnier Bay whenever there is a natural disaster of any kind. Flood, Earthquake, tornado, the usual. However, our secondary mission is identify, locate and classify any demons who may make their way to Earth," Ms. Fairweather explained as she and Trini walked through the corridors of the AquaBase.

There were still many parts of the base that were inaccessible due to construction, but for the most part, Trini found herself impressed with the layout and level of technology. Some of the vaguely reminded her of the Command Center, but even she had to admit she wasn't as familiar with the systems as she should have been.

While Ms. Fairweather had done her best to satisfy Trini's concerns about having malicious intent, she did note that during the tour, they were accompanied by two armed guards. It led Trini to believe that Ms. Fairweather didn't fully trust her yet, which was a wise precaution. Trini kept her guard up as well, just in case.

"Demons?" she inquired.

The two of them turned into what appeared to be a briefing room, where there was a gentlemen sitting at the end of the table.

"I'll let the Commander explain it. Commander Mitchell, this is Trini Kwan from Angel Grove. Trini, this is the Commander of the AquaBase, Commander William Mitchell," she introduced, then gracefully backed out, leaving Trini in the room along with the Commander.

Trini again noted that the two armed guards were not only in the room with her, but were standing on the opposite side of the door.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, young lady. We've been keeping track of the Power Rangers ever since they made their first appearance on Earth. I admit, I thought you'd be taller," Commander Mitchell said with a cheerful smile as he approached Trini, extending his hand to her.

She obliged him, then motioned for her to sit down across from him. The two of them took their seats, and the Commander slid a vanilla folder towards her.

"This is all the information we have on the temporal rupture that happened in the construction area in Angel Grove. As you can see, it bears a striking resemblance to another anomaly we have been keeping our eyes on for quite some time," he told her.

Trini read through the paperwork, admittedly a little confused by what she was see. "What is… the shadow world?" she inquired.

"A lot of different people throughout time has called it different things… I've heard it be referred to as The Shadow World, there is an ancient document that makes reference to an _Abyss of Evil._ Its original name, as far back as we can recall, it was called _os infernum_. Its latin, it means…" he was interrupted.

"The Mouth of Hell," Trini stated.

"You know latin, very good. But beliefs and superstitions aside, this is what I can tell you about it. Based on our information, whenever any of the monsters are defeated, their souls… their _essences_ , are taken there. The darkest of the dark, the most sinister beings, all of them end up there sooner or later. From what we can tell, there are only three entrances to _os infernum_ , one of them is about ten minutes outside of Marnier Bay, which is the one we keep a close eye on, there is one in Cleveland, Ohio, and another in the small town of Sunnydale, California. None of them are active, meaning nothing is escaping, but the energy that amount of evil resonates is enough to wreak havoc on the natural world. That's why Lightspeed Rescue was created, to assist in containing that havoc. So far, it hasn't been anything we couldn't handle, but I'm afraid a time will come when we will need more firepower than we have," he explained.

"Sounds like you need the power rangers," she mentioned.

"Our top minds are working with NASADA on a man made ranger energy, where we can harness whatever gives you your powers and recruit our own team, but we're years away from that. Or at least, we thought we were. We have confirmed that the rupture that was opened in your city is also a portal of some kind to _os infernum,_ but when we sent a team to investigate, it had been sealed. We brought you here to ask what you knew about it, and work together to prevent it from happening again."

"I don't know much about it, only that the blue ranger was sent to close the rift with some sort of device Zordon gave us," she said.

The commander leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin. "A proton accelerator?" he asked.

"I believe so, yes."

"Very good, but I would still like to keep a team of people in that area for the next 72 hours to ensure it doesn't return."

"Has there been any sign of the blue ranger?" she asked.

"Negative. In order to seal a rupture, especially one of the size, strength and intensity that our sensors picked up, it was much too big to be sealed from this side. It would have had to have been sealed from the other side. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid your friend is _in os infernum_ ," Commander Mitchell told him.

Trini stood up abruptly. "We need to get him out of there, now!" she said.

"I'm sorry, but we lack the energy to open a rupture on our own, and even if we did, it isn't a one way street. Opening a rupture could let any manner of creature out into our world. I apologize for your friend, and if he did in fact seal the rupture the Earth owes him a debt of gratitude, but I'm afraid there is no way…" he was interrupted as an alarm went off in the entire base and red lights began to flash in the hallway.

"What's happening?" Trini asked.

Commander Mitchell hurried over to one of the com panels on the wall, pressing a button. "Rescue Ops, this is Commander Mitchell. Report."

" _Commander, we have an intruder alert."_ a voice responded.

"An intruder? We're underwater. How is that possible?"

" _Several of our guards are down in the upper pylon."_

"Give me a visual of the main corridor of the upper pylon," he ordered.

The screen in front of him blinked on as the black ranger, power axe in hand, made his way through the corridor with determination in his walk as explosions and smoke engulfed the area.

"Friend of yours?" the commander asked.

"Its Zack. He probably saw you take me away from the police station and he followed us here to rescue me," she told him. _Thats so sweet of him,_ she thought to herself.

"He is taking out our guards, and based on his path, it looks like he is headed straight for…" before he could finish his sentence, the door to the briefing room flew open. The smoke dissipated, and the black ranger walked in.

"Let my friend go!" Zack warned, making his way towards the commander.

Trini quickly stood in between them, putting her hands on Zack's chest to stop him. "I'm not a prisoner here. I'm okay," she told him.

The black ranger's body language completely changed as he stopped dead in his tracks, lowering his weapon and wrapping his arms around her. "You can't go around scaring me like that, girl. I'm too young for high blood pressure," he joked.

"You took down half a dozen of our best guards, young man. Impressive," the commander noted.

"Whats going on here? Who are you and what is this place?"

"I'll answer all your questions on the way out. Right now, we have to find a way to _os infernum_ to rescue Billy," Trini told him.

"Os _whatis_?"

"Just come on," she grabbed Zack's arm, but quickly turned back to Commander Mitchell. "I assume we are free to go?"

The commander nodded. "Of course, but I think there is someone you'll want to meet first," he mentioned.

Before either of them could respond, another officer walked into the room. While Trini wasn't familiar with the ranking system Lightspeed Rescue used, it was clear that whoever he was, he was a high ranking officer. There were medals pinned to his uniform, and a gold tassel on his right shoulder.

The man himself was tall, dark and had a muscular build. He stood in front of Zack and Trini, removing his hat and placing it under his arm as stood, if Trini didn't know any better, nervously. It was obvious he was older as his hair was thinning, and there were traces of gray in his beard and goatee.

"Hello," he said softly.

In that moment, Zack powered down, and his ranger uniform was replaced by his civilian clothes. Almost all at once, he took a few steps forward, and Trini's hold on his arm completely fell away.

"Dad?"


End file.
